US prosecutors moved on Monday to drop criminal charges against US president-elect Donald Trump accusing him of plotting to subvert the 2020 election and to drop the charges against him, citing the US Department of Justice's policy that sitting presidents cannot face criminal charges. persecution.
The decision by special counsel Jack Smith, who has been pressing for Trump to face criminal charges for his efforts to undermine the 2020 election, represents the end of federal efforts against the former president following his election victory this month, despite election-related charges. and many other unrelated charges against him.
The decision, revealed in court filings, also represents a predictable but dramatic conclusion to criminal charges that have proven to be the most dangerous of the many legal threats Trump has faced. It shows the visible results of Trump's victory, ensuring that he enters the office without anyone looking at his collection of classified documents and his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
Smith's team insisted that the move to drop the prosecution, in federal courts in Washington and Florida, did not reflect their opinion on the merits of the cases but rather their commitment to long-standing department policy.
“This denial is complex and does not address the gravity of the charges, the strength of the Government's evidence, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government fully supports,” prosecutors wrote in court Monday in a motion to interfere with the election. the case.
Trump's victory forced how to proceed
This decision was expected for Smith's team to begin examining how to withdraw the case of meddling in the 2020 election and the classified documents after Trump's victory over US Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Justice Department believes Trump will not be prosecuted in line with the old policy that sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.
Trump dismissed both cases as political stunts, and had vowed to fire Smith as soon as he took office in January.
The 2020 election case that came last year was once seen as one of the most serious threats facing the Republic. But it came quickly amid legal battles over Trump's widespread allegations of impeachment for his actions while in the White House.
The US Supreme Court in July issued the first ruling that the former presidents are immune from prosecution, then sent the case back to US District Judge Tanya Chutkan to decide which allegations in the case, if any, can proceed to trial.
The case was starting to heat up again in court in the weeks leading up to this year's election. Smith's team in October filed a lengthy presentation of new evidence they plan to use against Trump in the case, accusing him of “turning to the charges” in an increasingly desperate attempt to overturn the will of the electorate after he lost to Biden.
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