Jack Smith Drops All Charges Against Donald Trump
by Molly Bohannon · ForbesTopline
The landmark federal prosecutions of President-elect Donald Trump effectively came to an end Monday, as Special Counsel Jack Smith asked a judge to dismiss felony charges against Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 election and dropped a fight to reinstate classified document charges—ending the historic saga before Trump retakes office.
Key Facts
Smith said the charges must be dismissed before he’s inaugurated in January due to the DOJ’s decades-old policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents.
The special counsel asked a D.C. court Monday to drop the election subversion charges, writing the DOJ and the country “have never faced the circumstance here, where a federal indictment against a private citizen has been returned by a grand jury and a criminal prosecution is already underway when the defendant is elected President.”
The charges against Trump for withholding classified documents were dismissed by a Florida-based federal judge earlier this year, and on Monday, Smith’s team dropped its appeal of that decision in Trump’s case—though Smith said he’s still appealing the dismissal as it relates to two other defendants.
Smith signaled the cases could come to an end weeks earlier: On Nov. 8—three days after Trump was elected the next president—U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the election subversion case, paused all deadlines upon Smith’s request, and Smith said he would provide a status report on Dec. 2 about how he would proceed.
Smith made a similar request to pause his appeal of the dismissal of Trump’s criminal case in Florida over withholding White House documents on Nov. 13, saying the government needed “time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy.”
Key Background
Trump was charged by the Justice Department in August 2023 with trying to overturn his 2020 election loss, one of four indictments brought against Trump at the state and federal level—a historic move, marking the first time a former president has faced criminal charges. Trump attempted to have the charges thrown out by arguing he had “presidential immunity,” and the Supreme Court ultimately sided with him, ruling mostly in his favor by saying he could not be charged for any activities that were “official” presidential duties. After the court’s ruling, Smith’s team issued a new, slimmed down indictment against Trump in August for the same four felonies. The second indictment more clearly argued Trump was not acting as president in his efforts to overturn the election, but was acting as a presidential candidate. Separately, Trump was indicted in the federal documents case last June for allegedly withholding national security documents and obstructing justice. Prosecutors alleged Trump intentionally tried to conceal classified documents and prevent them from being returned to the government, leading to 40 federal felony charges. Trump argued he was legally allowed to have the documents because of the Presidential Records Act, though experts said his argument was flawed. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all criminal charges brought against him and described them as a “witch hunt” by President Joe Biden’s DOJ in an attempt to ruin his presidential campaign. In October before he was elected, Trump said if he returned to the White House he would “fire [Smith]
within two seconds” and called the prosecutor a “scoundrel” and a “very dishonest man.”