Trump legal woes mostly behind him
Prosecutor defers to policy of not indicting or prosecuting a sitting president
US President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up upon return to the White House from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on October 05, 2020 in Washington, DC. Trump spent three days hospitalised for coronavirus.
Win McNamee, AFP
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s legal woes — or at least most of them — will not follow him back to the White House.
Special Counsel Jack Smith, who brought two federal cases against the former president, moved on Monday to drop both cases against him.
Not because of a lack of evidence, Smith was careful to emphasize, but rather because of a long-standing Justice Department policy of not indicting or prosecuting a sitting president.
“The Government’s position on the merits of the defendant’s prosecution has not changed,” Smith said.
“But the circumstances have,” the prosecutor added in a nod to Trump’s 5 November election victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.
Smith did leave open the possibility of Trump being tried after he leaves office — he asked Judge Tanya Chutkan to dismiss the election interference case “without prejudice,” meaning it can be refiled at some point.
Chutkan granted the request, noting that “the immunity afforded to a sitting President is temporary, expiring when they leave office.”
“Of course, there may be no appetite (for prosecution) in 2029, but this preserves that option,” said Barbara McQuade, a law professor at the University of Michigan.
Trump, 78, was accused of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Joe Biden and mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House.
A Trump-appointed judge in Florida dismissed the classified documents case on the grounds that Smith was unlawfully appointed.
Smith appealed the decision by Judge Aileen Cannon but dropped his appeal on Monday, citing Trump’s election and the Justice Department policy.
The election interference case never came to trial, as it was delayed at every turn by Trump’s attorneys as he sought reelection as the Republican presidential candidate.
The US Supreme Court eventually ruled in July that an ex-president has broad immunity from prosecution for acts committed in his official capacity, forcing Smith to bring the case to a new grand jury and issue a new indictment.