Special Counsel Jack Smith filed a motion on Monday to drop four charges against President-elect Donald Trump related to his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. Smith requested U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan to dismiss the case against Trump without prejudice, referring the policy that bars the prosecution of a sitting president.
The longstanding case was widely expected to fall away after Trump's landslide win against Kamala Harris in the November US Presidential election. Trump was indicted by a grand jury on August 1 of the previous year, but proceedings were delayed for several months as the Supreme Court reviewed his legal team's arguments regarding presidential immunity.
Smith Steps Back
The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision led by its conservative majority, ultimately ruled that Trump was entitled to broad immunity from prosecution for actions taken during his presidency.
The decision prompted special counsel Jack Smith, whom Trump has often labeled "deranged" and vowed to dismiss, to file a superseding indictment that reduced the charges against him.
"It has long been the position of the Department of Justice that the United States Constitution forbids the federal indictment and subsequent criminal prosecution of a sitting President," Smith's team wrote in a filing.
Trump had been accused of conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction and attempted obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
The news comes as a New York judge's recent decision to dismiss Trump's hush money case, which involved 34 counts of falsifying business records. The ruling aligns with an existing Justice Department policy that prohibits the prosecution of a sitting president.
Big Relief for Trump
This marks the end of a prolonged investigation that cost taxpayers $50 million, failed to reach trial, and was only initiated midway through President Joe Biden's term.
At the outset of President Biden's term, hundreds of people who entered the Capitol during the January 6 insurrection were prosecuted. The incident occurred as Congress convened to certify the Electoral College results, with Trump supporters storming the building in an unprecedented act of disruption.
In a historic move, Attorney General Merrick Garland later announced the appointment of Smith, a seasoned war crimes prosecutor, to investigate the events surrounding the transfer of power after the 2020 presidential election. Smith's mandate was to determine "whether any person or entity unlawfully interfered with the transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election or the certification of the Electoral College vote held on or about January 6, 2021."
Smith also led the investigation into the classified documents case against Trump, which involved allegations that Trump took national security documents to Mar-a-Lago after leaving the presidency.
Smith has already indicated his intention to step down before Trump assumes office.
Steven Cheung, the incoming White House communications director, described Smith's departure as a "major victory for the rule of law."
"The American People re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate to Make America Great Again. Today's decision by the DOJ ends the unconstitutional federal cases against President Trump and is a major victory for the rule of law," Cheung said in a statement.
"The American People and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country," he said.
