By Reuters Wire Service
Dallas Morning News
Reprinted – by Texas Metro News
Prosecutors, special counsel Jack Smith cite Justice Department policy that sitting presidents should not face criminal prosecution.
WASHINGTON — U.S. prosecutors on Monday asked a U.S. judge to drop the criminal case accusing President-elect Donald Trump of seeking to overturn his 2020 election defeat and to abandon the classified documents case against him, citing his impending return to the presidency following his successful 2024 campaign.
Prosecutors working with special counsel Jack Smith cited a longstanding U.S. Justice Department policy that sitting presidents should not face criminal prosecution.
The move represents a shift from the special prosecutor who obtained indictments against Trump in two separate cases accusing him of crimes that threatened U.S. election integrity and national security.
Trump pleaded not guilty in August 2023 to four federal charges accusing the Republican of conspiring to obstruct the collection and certification of votes following his 2020 defeat to Democrat Joe Biden.
Smith’s team emphasized that the move to abandon the prosecutions, in federal courts in Washington and Florida, was not a reflection of their view on the merits of the cases but rather a reflection of their commitment to longstanding department policy.
“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,” the prosecutors wrote in Monday’s court filing in the election interference case.
The 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 country’s chief executive to function.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan will still have to approve the request from prosecutors.Related:LGBTQ Texans prepare for new Trump administration, state legislative session
Trump’s lawyers had previously said they would seek to dismiss the charges based on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in July that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution over official actions taken while in the White House.
Smith attempted to salvage the case following the high court ruling, dropping some allegations but arguing the rest were not covered by presidential immunity and could proceed to trial.
Chutkan had been due to decide whether the immunity decision required other portions of the case to be thrown out. A trial date had not been set.
The case was brought following a probe led by Smith into Trump’s attempts to hold on to power following his 2020 election defeat, culminating in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his supporters following a speech by Trump near the White House.
The decision was expected after Smith’s team began assessing how to wind down both the 2020 election interference case and the separate classified documents case in the wake of Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump denied wrongdoing and argued that the U.S. legal system had been turned against him to damage his presidential campaign. He vowed during the campaign that he would fire Smith if he returned to the presidency.
By Andrew Goudsward, Reuters
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
