Upcoming President Donald Trump has no more federal indictments as special counsel Jack Smith drops the 2020 election interference case against him.
According to CBS News, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, on Monday, November 25, 2024, dismissed the charges against the US 45th and 47th president in the election case hours after special counsel asked to close the case, citing that as per Justice Department policy, a sitting president can't be prosecuted.
Smith wrote in his filing, “After careful consideration, the department has determined that [the Office of Legal Counsel's] prior opinions concerning the Constitution's prohibition on federal indictment and prosecution of a sitting president apply to this situation and that, as a result, this prosecution must be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated.”
“That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the government's proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the government stands fully behind," he continued.
Smith said that this has never happened before in the US where a grand jury or prosecution has returned a federal indictment against a private citizen, but after consulting with the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, he learned that “the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated."
For the unversed, special counsel accused Trump and his unnamed co-conspirators of secretly working to interfere in the 2020 election results and stop the Electoral College from certifying the votes.
