Special Counsel Jack Smith of the U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion on Monday, November 25, to dismiss the federal case against Donald Trump concerning alleged attempts to influence the results of the 2020 presidential election.
In the motion submitted to federal judge Tanya Chutkan, the special counsel referenced the Department of Justice’s policy of not prosecuting presidents for federal crimes.
“The country have never faced the circumstance here, where a federal indictment against a private citizen has been returned by a grand jury and a criminal prosecution is already underway when the defendant is elected President,”,” Smith noted.
He further stated that, following internal consultations, the Department of Justice determined that the precedent of not prosecuting sitting U.S. presidents “applies to this situation and, as a result, this prosecution must be terminated before the defendant’s inauguration.”
The case in question accuses Trump of crimes related to attempts to influence the outcome of the 2020 election, which was won by Democrat Joe Biden. Earlier this month, Judge Tanya Chutkan paused proceedings to give the special counsel time to explore whether Trump could be held accountable.
