Special prosecutor Jack Smith dropped two criminal cases against US president-elect Donald Trump on Monday, including his 2020 election interference case and an appeal in his classified documents case, which had been dismissed in July.
According to Smith’s court filing, the Department of Justice (DOJ) determined it would be unconstitutional to prosecute Trump because of his impending inauguration. Smith stated the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) had concluded twice before, in 1973 and 2000, that “charging and prosecuting a sitting President would impermissibly threaten the constitutional separation of powers because it would harm the President’s ability to fulfill his constitutional role.” The special prosecutor moved to dismiss the case and appeal without prejudice.
The US Supreme Court ruled in July that presidents are presumptively immune from prosecution for “official acts” committed in office after Trump challenged his federal election interference charges. The court’s logic aligned with the OLC’s opinions which Smith mentioned. It held that the threat of prosecution after a president leaves office may interfere with the separation of powers enshrined in the US Constitution.
Trump reacted to Smith’s actions by posting on Truth Social:
These cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought. … It was a political hijacking, and a low point in the History of our Country that such a thing could have happened, and yet, I persevered, against all odds, and WON. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Smith had paused the election interference case and the classified documents appeal earlier this month as Trump’s November 5 electoral victory threw the viability of the cases into doubt. The judge in Trump’s New York classified documents case also indefinitely delayed the president-elect’s sentencing on Friday. The status of Trump’s Georgia election interference case was also cast into doubt after a state appeals court cancelled a hearing on the matter.
Trump was indicted in June 2023 for allegedly bringing classified documents to his Florida home at Mar-a-Lago after leaving office and refusing to return them. Smith unveiled conspiracy charges against Trump in August 2023 over alleged efforts to derail the certification of the 2020 US Presidential election.
The appeal to reinstate the charges against Trump’s two classified documents co-defendants is still set to go forward.
