Donald Trump began this year fighting two federal prosecutions that threatened to send him to prison, but he will end it free and clear of his most significant criminal legal problems.
With his resounding victory at the polls and a longstanding Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president, the key question is not if, but when, prosecutors will move to dismiss or delay his federal election interference case in Washington, D.C.
Trump recently said he would fire special counsel Jack Smith “within two seconds” upon returning to the White House. Now, that won’t be necessary to bring his federal criminal troubles to an end. According to a source familiar with Justice Department deliberations, Smith is taking steps to end both federal cases against Trump before the president-elect takes office.
1. What are the outstanding cases the federal government has lodged against Trump?
A grand jury in Washington indicted Trump this year on four felony charges related to his efforts to retain power in 2020, culminating in the violent siege on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Judge Tanya Chutkan had set a trial date for March 2024, but that date came and went after the Supreme Court accepted the case and ultimately granted Trump significant immunity from prosecution for official actions he took while in the White House. The judge is now beginning to assess which parts of the prosecution’s case involve official acts and which pertain to private conduct by someone seeking office rather than holding it.
In a separate criminal case, the Justice Department has appealed Trump’s alleged hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort and his refusal to return them to the FBI. Judge Aileen Cannon, whom Trump appointed to the bench, dismissed the documents case on July 15, the first day of this year’s Republican National Convention, reasoning that the way the special counsel was appointed violates the Constitution. The Justice Department is seeking review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
2. What does Trump’s election victory mean for these cases?
They are on life support and likely to conclude even before the January inauguration. On the campaign trail, now President-elect Trump vowed to fire special counsel Jack Smith on his first day in office. However, Trump would not need to dismiss Smith or instruct DOJ officials to terminate Smith in order to end the criminal prosecutions.
In 2000, a lawyer in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, which advises the federal government on its powers and limits, concluded that a sitting president cannot be indicted or prosecuted because doing so “would unconstitutionally undermine the capacity of the executive branch to perform its constitutionally assigned functions.” This policy against prosecuting presidents has been upheld by both Republican and Democratic administrations.
The Florida case involving classified documents is somewhat more complicated. The DOJ could file notice with the appeals court that it is abandoning the appeal. However, this case involves two other defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira. Dismissing the appeal outright would also mean abandoning the cases prosecutors have built against these two defendants—Trump’s personal aide and the Mar-a-Lago property manager.
Moreover, the federal government may have a broader interest, as Cannon’s reasoning could disrupt the way special prosecutors have been appointed for decades. However, a DOJ veteran not authorized to speak publicly told NPR that Cannon’s ruling would not be considered binding precedent, so the stakes may be lower.
Former Attorney General William Barr remarked that voters have evaluated the allegations against Trump and have delivered a decisive verdict of their own. “Further maneuvering on these cases in the weeks ahead would serve no legitimate purpose and only distract the country and the incoming administration from the task at hand,” Barr said in a written statement first reported by the Guardian.
3. What happens to the special counsel, Jack Smith?
Special counsels must submit a report on their actions to the Attorney General when their work concludes. The current attorney general, Merrick Garland, has pledged to make most of these reports public. If Smith’s report is not complete by Inauguration Day, it will fall to the new DOJ leadership to decide its outcome.
Mike Davis, an ally of Trump, told a conservative interviewer this week that the attorney general “is probably President Trump’s most important appointment.” Davis added that Smith’s entire office should be dismissed, stating, “After today, Jack Smith, you’re going to be the hunted: legally, politically, and financially. So lawyer up, buddy.”
4. Trump also faced criminal charges in two states, New York and Georgia. How will the election reshape those cases?
In New York, a jury this year convicted Trump on 34 criminal charges related to bookkeeping for an alleged hush money payment shortly before the 2016 election. Justice Juan Merchan has scheduled a hearing for Nov. 12 to determine how the Supreme Court’s immunity decision might impact this case. It’s unclear if the criminal sentencing for Trump, set for Thanksgiving week, will occur, as his lawyers may seek to halt it in light of the election results.
The case against Trump in Fulton County, Georgia, over alleged election interference has been paused for months while a higher court reviews possible conflicts of interest involving District Attorney Fani Willis. A hearing in that appeal is scheduled for Dec. 5.
This case, too, could be overtaken by events, as a strategy of delay and deflection by Trump’s lawyers appears to have succeeded beyond expectations.
{Matzav.com}