Special counsel Jack Smith filed motions Monday to drop all of his federal charges against President-elect Donald Trump, saying Justice Department policy prevents him from continuing the prosecutions after Trump’s inauguration.
“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,” Smith’s office wrote in Monday’s filing.
The cases regarded Trump’s handling of classified documents and his actions following the rigged 2020 presidential election in the lead-up to the Jan. 6 riot on the U.S Capitol.
Trump said in a statement Monday that the cases against him represented a “political hijacking, and a low point in the History of our Country that such a thing could have happened.” The president-elect added that he “persevered, against all odds, and WON.”
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan granted Smith’s motion to dismiss the Jan. 6-related indictment hours later, formally bringing the contentious case an end.
Smith first indicted Trump in June 2023 in a federal court in Miami on 37 felony counts related to his handling of classified documents. The case marked the first time in U.S. history a former president had faced criminal charges. A Florida judge already dismissed the case, but Smith’s office had sought an appeal.
In August 2023, Smith indicted Trump on four counts related to the Special Counsel investigation into Jan. 6: Conspiracy to Defraud the United States, Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding, Obstruction, and Attempt to Obstruct an Official Proceeding, and Conspiracy Against Rights.
The indictment also listed six unnamed and unindicted co-conspirators.
“The Defendant and co-conspirators used knowingly false claims of election fraud to get state legislators and election officials to subvert the legitimate election results and change electoral votes for the Defendant’s opponent, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., to electoral votes for the Defendant,” the indictment said.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all the charges and appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to dismiss the case on the basis of presidential immunity.
SCOTUS ruled that Trump was immune from prosecution for official presidential acts, forcing Smith to file a new indictment.
Trump pleaded not guilty to those new charges, as well. Additionally, Trump’s attorneys sought to have the election interference charges dropped in Washington, D.C., alleging that Smith was appointed unlawfully.
Smith was defiant in his filing Monday, saying: “The Government’s position on the merits of the defendant’s prosecution has not changed. But the circumstances have,” the special counsel added.
Following Smith’s motions to drop the charges, Trump released a statement blasting the prosecutions as “empty,” “lawless” and a “political hijacking.”
“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,” Trump said in the press release.
Over $100 Million Dollars of Taxpayer Dollars has been wasted in the Democrat Party’s fight against their Political Opponent, ME. Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before. They have also used State Prosecutors and District Attorneys, such as Fani Willis and her lover, Nathan Wade (who had absolutely zero experience in cases such as this, but was paid MILLIONS, enough for them to take numerous trips and cruises around the globe!), Letitia James, who inappropriately, unethically, and probably illegally, campaigned on “GETTING TRUMP” in order to win Political Office, and Alvin Bragg, who himself never wanted to bring this case against me, but was forced to do so by the Justice Department and the Democrat Party.
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!
The special counsel and his team reportedly plan to resign before Trump takes office. Smith is expected to file a report to the attorney general explaining his charging decisions before he steps down.
Article 3 Project’s Mike Davis take on the development is sure to aggravate Democrats. “The hunters are about to become the hunted,” Davis wrote on X. “Legally, politically, and financially. Nobody is above the law.”
Debra: When the ‘lawfare’ began, a main point of all of the commentary I heard was that the prosecutions had to be completed quickly because, if Trump won, once sworn in he could pardon himself in all of the criminal cases, including the state cases. What has happened to that notion? Can you tell us? I don’t hear it being discussed any more.
The argument was that Pres. Trump can, theoretically, pardon himself of the federal charges. But that wouldn’t apply to state charges and I’m not convinced about the federals ones, to be honest. Nixon was never formally charged & his pardon was signed by Ford, so this is entirely new territory. While I do not want to see these weaponized charges waiting for him to leave office, I 'm not entirely comfortable with the idea that a president, who was guilty of the crimes they were charged with, could not be prosecuted for those crimes. It would be much better if these cases were dismissed with prejudice.