Washington (AP) Referencing a long-standing Justice Department protocol that protects presidents from prosecution while in office, special counsel Jack Smith asked a federal judge on Monday to dismiss the case against President-elect Donald Trump for allegedly plotting to rig the 2020 election.
The Justice Department’s historic attempt to hold Trump responsible for what prosecutors described as a criminal plot to hold onto power in the lead-up to his supporters’ attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, has come to an end with the action revealed in court documents.
Prosecutors at the Justice Department stated that the department’s stance is that the Constitution demands that this case be dropped before the defendant is sworn in, citing longtime departmental policy that states a sitting president cannot be charged.
In their court brief on Monday, the prosecutors stated that the prohibition is categorical and does not depend on the seriousness of the charges, the quality of the government’s evidence, or the merits of the prosecution, all of which the government firmly supports.
Following Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, Smith’s team started evaluating how to close the 2020 election interference investigation and the separate classified materials case, so the decision was anticipated. According to the Justice Department, the long-standing rule that states sitting presidents cannot be charged no longer applies to Trump’s case.
Trump had promised to dismiss Smith as soon as he takes office in January and has framed both instances as politically motivated.
One of the most significant legal challenges to the Republican’s bid to retake the White House was long thought to be the 2020 election litigation that was filed last year. However, it soon came to a standstill due to legal disputes surrounding Trump’s broad assertions of immunity from prosecution for actions he conducted while in the White House.
The U.S. Supreme Court sent the case to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in July to decide which, if any, of the indictment’s charges may go to trial after ruling for the first time that past presidents have wide immunity from prosecution.
In the weeks preceding this year’s election, the lawsuit was only starting to acquire momentum once more in the trial court. In a long brief submitted in October, Smith’s lawyers laid out fresh evidence they intended to use against him at trial and accused him of turning to criminal activity in an increasingly desperate attempt to win over votes after losing to Joe Biden.
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