By The Daily Wire (World News) | Created at 2024-11-25 19:30:08 | Updated at 2024-12-04 09:11:39
1 week ago
Special counsel Jack Smith has moved to drop his cases against President-elect Donald Trump over the 2020 election and classified documents.
Smith filed to drop his case over the 2020 election first on Monday, moving to dismiss four felony charges against the president-elect. Smith filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that his prosecution of the case against Trump is barred under the Constitution and the Department of Justice’s longstanding policy against charging and prosecuting a sitting president.
“The Department’s position is that the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated,” Smith wrote in the filing, according to CNN. “This outcome is not based on the merits or strength of the case against the defendant.”
“That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind,” the filing states, according to The Washington Post. “Based on the Department’s interpretation of the Constitution, the Government moves for dismissal without prejudice of the superseding indictment.”
Smith also moved to dismiss his appeal to revive a case against Trump over classified documents that the president-elect allegedly kept illegally at Mar-a-Lago after the 2020 election, according to CBS News.
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Trump spokesman Steven Cheung celebrated the motion to dismiss in a statement. He called Smith’s filing a “major victory for the rule of law” and said the “weaponization” of the justice system must end.
“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. “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.”
Smith had charged Trump with four felonies related to the 2020 election, specifically on Trump’s actions after the election and before Congress certified the results on January 7, 2021. In August last year, Trump was indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
Trump has claimed innocence in each case and repeatedly characterized Smith’s prosecutions as political and led by a corrupt and weaponized Department of Justice.
