WASHINGTON – Special counsel Jack Smith has filed a motion to dismiss all four criminal charges against President-elect Donald Trump in connection with an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election ahead of the deadly attack on the US Capitol on January 6.
Trump was the first In August 2023, he was charged with four felonies: Conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct official proceedings, obstruction and attempted obstruction of official proceedings, and conspiracy to violate rights. The case was then shelved for months as Trump’s team argued He said that Trump cannot be prosecuted.
The impeachment marked an extraordinary moment in American history—the first indictment of a president who tried to cling to power by illegal means.
The dismissal is also a historic moment. Fifty years after Richard Nixon was forced to resign by lawmakers from both parties amid allegations of criminal misconduct, half of American voters will return Trump to the presidency despite serious allegations of criminal misconduct in office.
“The government’s position regarding the nature of the defendant’s accusation has not changed. But there are circumstances,” Smith’s office wrote in a Monday filing, adding that it was seeking to dismiss the charges ahead of Trump’s inauguration, in line with the Justice Department’s longstanding position that it cannot indict a president.
“This prohibition is final and does not affect the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s evidence, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government is fully behind,” the special prosecutor added.
The Supreme Court handed Trump an early victory in the case in July on presidential immunity. But a a new federal grand jury indicted Trump on the same four counts again in August, claiming that Trump’s false claims about massive voter fraud during the 2020 election were “unsupported, objectively unfounded, and constantly changing” and that Trump “knew they were false.”
Obviously, Trump has never admitted that the election allegations were actually false, and he has pleaded not guilty.
“Today’s decision by the DoJ ends the unconstitutional federal cases against President Trump and is a major victory for the rule of law,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. The American people and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system, and we look forward to uniting our country.”
Smith’s team writes that since Trump’s re-election, the special counsel’s office has been caught between “two fundamental and compelling national interests.” “On the one hand, the Constitution’s requirement that the President not be unduly burdened in the performance of his onerous duties… and on the other hand, the nation’s commitment to the rule of law and its longstanding principle”[n]man is so high in this country that he is above the law.”
Smith and his team plan to resign before Trump takes officea source told NBC News earlier this month. Special counsel rules require Smith to report to the attorney general explaining his charging decisions before resigning.
On January 6, many of the defendants told the judges that they had appealed “convincing“It’s enough to believe Trump’s lies, which are voiced by the president-elect’s allies, Republicans in Congress and conservative influencers on social media.
Justice Department Focuses on Imprisonment”the worst“Unrest before Trump returns to office. Says he’ll be president-elect.” sorry An unspecified part of the January 6 rioters, to whom it is namedwarriors,” “incredible patriots,” political prisoners and “pledges.”
He is expected to travel through the lower west tunnel, where some of the worst violence occurred, on January 6 to be sworn in as president on January 20, 2025.
Michael Kosnar, Gary Grumbach and Olympia Sonnier contributed.