Justice Department weighs how to drop charges against President-elect Donald Trump: source
WASHINGTON – Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith is discussing ways to wind down the two federal criminal cases against President-elect Donald Trump before he takes office, according to a department official familiar with the matter.
Continuing to pursue the charges against the former president would violate longstanding policy against prosecuting a sitting president. Because of two looming deadlines for documents to be filed in the federal cases, the department's decision about how to withdraw the charges could come within weeks.
A Trump spokesperson, Steven Cheung, said the decision came after Trump was elected with an overwhelming mandate to unify the country.
“It is now abundantly clear that Americans want an immediate end to the weaponization of our justice system, so we can, as President Trump said in his historic speech last night, unify our country and work together for the betterment of our nation,” Cheung said.
Before the Justice Department discussions were revealed, Trump had suggested he could fire Smith or pardon himself. “It’s so easy ? I would fire him within two seconds,” Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Oct. 24.
Trump has also vowed to prosecute his rivals. He has shared social media posts calling for the imprisonment of President Biden, Vice-President Kamala Harris and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., among other high-profile Democrats, for unspecified crimes. When he was in office he asked an aide to have the Justice Department prosecute Hillary Clinton and former FBI Director James Comey.
“They ought to throw Deranged Jack Smith and his Thug Prosecutors in jail, with Meritless Garland and Trump Hating Lisa Monaco,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social in July 2023, referring to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “They have totally Weaponized the Department of Injustice.”
Trump faces charges in Washington, D.C., that he tried to steal the 2020 election and obstruct Congress from counting Electoral College votes on Jan. 6, 2021. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is weighing whether Trump is immune from the charges under a Supreme Court decision in July.
Trump was also indicted on charges he unlawfully retained classified documents after leaving the White House. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the charges by ruling Smith was appointed illegitimately but he has appealed the decision to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Eric Columbus, a lawyer who worked on the House investigation of the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, and in the Justice Department during the Obama administration, acknowledged presidents can't be prosecuted but said charges against Trump could just be put on hold.
“Of course, the Trump DOJ would dismiss the cases,” Columbus said in a social media post. “But don’t do it for them.”
Two looming deadlines in those cases could mean Smith’s decision will be made within weeks. Smith has a Nov. 15 deadline to file an argument in the 11th Circuit case and there is Nov. 21 deadline for Trump’s lawyers to file an argument for his immunity in the election interference case.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DOJ weighs dropping charges against Donald Trump: source