A judge on Monday granted prosecutors’ request to dismiss the election sabotage case against Donald Trump because of the Justice Department’s policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents.
Judge Tanya Chutkan agreed to special counsel Jack Smith’s request to dismiss the case against the president-elect “without prejudice,” meaning it could potentially be dismissed after Trump leaves the White House four years from now. Can be revived.
“Dismissal without prejudice is appropriate here,” Chutkan said. He said in the judgment that “the immunity granted to a sitting President is temporary, ending when he leaves office.”
Trump, 78, was accused of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden, and of deleting large amounts of top secret documents after leaving the White House, but the cases were never heard. Hui.
Smith also moved Monday to withdraw his appeal of the dismissal of the document case filed against the former president in Florida. That case was dismissed earlier this year by a Trump-appointed judge on the grounds that Smith was appointed unlawfully.
The special counsel halted the election interference case and the documents case this month after Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the November 5 presidential election.
Smith cited the Justice Department’s long-standing policy of not convicting or prosecuting a sitting president in his motion to dismiss the cases.
“The government’s position on the merits of the defendant’s prosecution has not changed,” Smith said in the filing to Chutkan. “But there are circumstances.”
“It has long been the position of the Justice Department that the Constitution of the United States prohibits the federal indictment and subsequent criminal prosecution of a sitting president,” Smith said.
“As a result this prosecution should be dismissed prior to defendant’s inauguration.”
In a separate filing, Smith said he was withdrawing his appeal to dismiss the classified documents case against Trump, but his two co-defendants, Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos D. The case against Oliveira is being pursued.
‘Empty and chaotic’
Trump said in a post on Truth Social that the cases were “hollow and lawless, and should never have been brought.”
“More than $100 million of taxpayer dollars has been wasted in the Democrat Party’s fight against its political rival ME,” he said. “This has never happened before in our country.”
Trump was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct official proceedings – the session of Congress called to certify Biden’s victory, which was stormed by supporters of the then-President on January 6, 2021. The mob had violently attacked.
Trump was also accused of trying to disenfranchise American voters with his false claims of winning the 2020 election.
The former and incoming president also faces two state cases – in New York and Georgia.
He was convicted in New York in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels from disclosing an alleged 2006 sexual encounter on the eve of the 2016 election. Was.
However, Judge Juan Merchan has postponed sentencing while he considers a request from Trump’s lawyers to vacate the conviction in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling in July that grants a former president broad immunity from prosecution. Is received.
In Georgia, Trump is facing fraud charges over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the southern state, but the case will likely be put to rest while he remains in office.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
