Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday dropped his election interference case against President-elect Donald Trump, while also moving to drop his appeal of a judge’s decision in the president-elect’s classified documents case.
In a six-page court filing in a Washington federal court, Smith’s team argued that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has long argued “that the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated,” referring to Trump’s recent election victory.
“This outcome is not based on the merits or strength of the case against the defendant,” the filing states.
His office said that prosecutors have conferred with Trump’s attorneys, who indicated they do not oppose the government’s motion.
“Based on the Department’s interpretation of the Constitution, the Government moves for dismissal without prejudice of the superseding indictment,” the court documents state.
At the same time, in an appeals court, Smith also wrote he is dropping his appeal of U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s July decision to dismiss a case that accused the president-elect of illegally retaining classified records and allegedly obstructing an investigation.
“Dismissing the appeal as to defendant Trump will leave in place the district court’s order dismissing the indictment without prejudice as to him,” his filing said. But his appeal concerning two other defendants in the case, Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, “will continue because, unlike defendant Trump, no principle of temporary immunity applies to them.”
Cannon had dismissed the case after agreeing with arguments that Smith was not lawfully appointed as special counsel. Smith in August asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to reverse her decision.
The move marks an end to Smith’s criminal pursuit of Trump over the past two years or so accusing him of attempting to illegally overturn the 2020 election. Smith accused Trump of mishandling classified documents in a separate case, which was dismissed over the summer by a federal judge.
The decision was anticipated after Smith’s team said in court filings that it was assessing how to wind down both the 2020 election interference case and the classified documents case in the wake of Trump’s win on Nov. 5 over Vice President Kamala Harris.
According to Smith’s team, the DOJ believes that the president-elect can no longer be tried in accordance with longstanding policy that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.
The DOJ policy that Smith is referring to, 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.
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