Washington: US prosecutors on Monday asked a US judge to dismiss the criminal case accusing President-elect Donald Trump of seeking to overturn his 2020 election defeat, citing his imminent return to the presidency after his successful 2024 campaign.
Prosecutors working with Special Counsel Jack Smith pointed to the US Department of Justice’s long-standing policy that sitting presidents should not face criminal prosecution.
This step represents 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 the American elections and national security.
It shows how Trump’s election victory over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris was not only a political victory, but also a legal victory.
Trump pleaded not guilty in August 2023 to four federal charges in which he accused the Republican of conspiring to obstruct the collection and certification of votes after his 2020 defeat to Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump, who as president will again oversee the Justice Department, is expected to order the end of the 2020 federal election case and Smith’s attempt to revive a second case accusing Trump of illegally retaining classified documents after leaving office in 2021.
Justice Department policy, dating back to the 1970s, holds that a criminal prosecution of a sitting president would violate the U.S. Constitution by undermining the ability of the nation’s chief executive to do his job.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan still must approve prosecutors’ request.
Trump’s lawyers had previously said they would seek to dismiss the charges based on a US Supreme Court ruling in July that former presidents enjoy broad immunity from prosecution for official actions taken while in the White House.
Smith tried to salvage the case in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, dismissing some of the allegations but saying the rest were not covered by presidential immunity and could proceed to trial.
Chutkan was scheduled to decide whether the immunity ruling required other parts of the case to be thrown out. No trial date has been set.
The case was brought in the wake of a Smith-led investigation into Trump’s attempts to retain power following his 2020 election defeat, which culminated in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, by a mob of his supporters following a fiery speech by Trump near the US Capitol. The white house.
Trump denied any wrongdoing and said 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.