On Monday, Judge Tanya Chutkan approved a request from prosecutors to drop the election subversion case against Donald Trump, citing the Justice Department’s policy of not prosecuting a sitting president. The case was dismissed “without prejudice,” meaning it could be revived once Trump is no longer in office.
In her ruling, Judge Chutkan explained that the immunity granted to a sitting president is temporary and expires when they leave office. The case involved accusations that Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election results and unlawfully took classified documents after his presidency ended, but the case had not yet gone to trial.
On Monday, Special Counsel Jack Smith requested to drop his appeal of the dismissal of the documents case against former President Trump in Florida. The case had been thrown out earlier this year by a Trump-appointed judge, who determined that Smith’s appointment was invalid.
This month, Special Counsel Jack Smith paused both the election interference and documents cases after Donald Trump won the November 5 presidential election against Vice President Kamala Harris.
In his motions to dismiss the cases, Smith referenced the longstanding Justice Department policy against indicting or prosecuting a sitting president.
Smith explained in his filing with Judge Chutkan that while the government’s position on the merits of the case remains unchanged, “the circumstances have.” He also reaffirmed the Department of Justice’s view that the U.S. Constitution prohibits the federal indictment and prosecution of a sitting president.
Smith explained, “Therefore, this prosecution must be dismissed before the defendant’s inauguration.”
In a separate filing, Smith revealed that he was withdrawing his appeal of the dismissal of the classified documents case against Trump but would proceed with the case against Trump’s two co-defendants, Walt Nauta, his valet, and Carlos De Oliveira, the Mar-a-Lago property manager.
