Washington: A US judge on Monday dismissed the federal criminal lawsuit against Donald Trump, which claimed that she made efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election.
The court’s ruling comes after prosecutors sought to withdraw the case and a second case, a reference to a Justice Department policy that prohibits the prosecution of a sitting president.
The order by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan puts an end to federal efforts to hold Trump criminally liable for his attempts to cling to power after losing the 2020 election, which culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob. His supporters.
The move came after special counsel Jack Smith, the lead prosecutor overseeing both cases, moved to dismiss the election case and end his attempt to revive a separate case accusing Trump of illegally retaining classified documents when he left office in 2021 after his first term as president. .
This represents a major legal victory for the Republican president-elect, who won the US elections held on November 5 and is scheduled to return to office on January 20.
The Justice Department policy cited by prosecutors dates back to the 1970s. It argues that a criminal prosecution of a sitting president would violate the U.S. Constitution by undermining the ability of the country’s chief executive to function. The courts must still approve both requests from prosecutors.
Prosecutors in the election sabotage case said the department’s policy required the case to be dismissed before Trump returned to the White House.
“This finding is not based on the merits of the case or the strength of the case against the defendant,” prosecutors wrote in the filing.
Prosecutors in the documents case indicated that they will still ask the federal appeals court to reinstate the case against two Trump aides accused of obstructing this investigation.
Trump spokesman Stephen Cheung hailed what he described as a “major victory for the rule of law.”
Trump faced criminal charges in four cases, two filed by Smith and two in state courts in New York and Georgia. He was convicted in the New York case while the Georgia case, which also related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, remains in limbo.
In a social media post, Trump on Monday criticized the legal cases as “a low point in our country’s history.”
The moves of Smith, who was appointed by US Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022, represent a marked shift from the special prosecutor who obtained indictments against Trump in two separate cases accusing him of committing crimes that threaten the integrity of US elections and national security. Prosecutors acknowledged that the election of a president facing ongoing criminal cases created an unprecedented dilemma for the Justice Department.
Chutkan left open the possibility that prosecutors could seek to charge Trump again after he leaves office, but prosecutors are likely to face challenges bringing the case long after the conduct involved in the case occurred.
Trump pleaded not guilty in August 2023 to four federal charges that accused him of conspiring to obstruct the counting and certification of votes after his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump, who as president will once again oversee the Justice Department, is expected to order the end of the 2020 federal election case and Smith’s appeal of the documents case.
Florida-based Judge Eileen Cannon, who was appointed by Trump to the federal court, dismissed the classified documents case in July, ruling that Smith was inappropriately appointed to his role as special counsel.
Smith’s office had appealed this ruling and indicated on Monday that the appeal would continue with respect to Trump’s personal assistant Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, the manager of the Mar-a-Lago resort, who had previously been indicted alongside Trump in the corruption case. issue. Both Nauta and de Oliveira have pleaded not guilty, as has Trump.
In the 2020 election case, Trump’s lawyers previously said they would seek to dismiss the charges based on the US Supreme Court’s ruling in July that former presidents enjoy broad immunity from prosecution for official actions taken while in the White House.
Trump denied any wrongdoing in all the cases, and said that the American legal system had turned against him to harm his presidential campaign. He pledged during the campaign that he would fire Smith if he returned to the presidency.
Trump in May became the first former president to be convicted of a crime when a New York jury found him guilty of criminal charges related to a payment to a porn star before the 2016 election. His sentencing in that case has been postponed indefinitely.
The criminal case against Trump in Georgia state court related to the 2020 election is stalled.