A US federal appeals court on Thursday suspended the ongoing proceedings against Donald Trump for withholding classified documents after his departure from the White House, at the request of special prosecutor Jack Smith.
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The special prosecutor took the same step last week in the other federal proceedings he is investigating in Washington against the ex-president for illegal attempts to reverse the results of the 2020 election in order to give the prosecution time to analyze the “unprecedented situation” created by the election of Donald Trump.
In the second case, in Florida, Judge Aileen Cannon canceled the proceedings on July 15 on the grounds that the appointment of the special prosecutor in this case and the financing of his work violated the sections of the Constitution relating to appointments and expenditures.
Jack Smith appealed this decision.
AFP
But he asked the court of appeal on Wednesday to freeze the calendar since Donald Trump has since become the future president, “the time to analyze this unprecedented situation and to determine the course of action to follow in accordance with the policy of the Ministry of Justice”, using the same terms as in the other file.
He also specifies there that he will present “the result of his deliberations” by December 2.
The Justice Department has had a policy of not prosecuting a sitting president for more than 50 years.
The situation of a presidential candidate being criminally prosecuted and then elected is unprecedented, but most legal commentators expect an extension of this policy to the case of Donald Trump, which would allow him to escape federal prosecution until the end of his new mandate.
In this case, one of four criminal proceedings against him, he was accused of having compromised national security by keeping these documents, including military plans or information on nuclear weapons, in his private residence after the end of its mandate, instead of handing them over to the National Archives as required by law.
He was also accused of attempting to destroy evidence. The heaviest charges were punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
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