Special Counsel Jack Smith speaks to members of the media at the U.S. Department of Justice building on August 1, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
Special counsel Jack Smith asks the F.B.I. Court of Appeal On Wednesday, he paused proceedings in an attempt to overturn a judge’s decision to dismiss the criminally classified documents case against President-elect Donald Trump and two other defendants.
Smith’s request cited Trump’s election last week and his re-election to the White House.
On Friday, the special counsel asked a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to pause a separate criminal case in which Trump is charged with crimes related to his attempt to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss, citing the same reasoning. The request was granted.
Both initiatives reflect people’s expectations Ministry of Justice Two criminal cases against Trump will be dropped as a result of his election.
Justice Department policy states that the department cannot criminally prosecute a sitting president. But even if the policy doesn’t take effect, Trump as president has the power to order his attorney general (attorney general) to dismiss both cases.
Trump announced Wednesday that he will nominate controversial Florida congressman Matt Gaetz to be attorney general.
NBC News reported earlier Wednesday that Smith and his team of prosecutors in the special counsel’s office intend to resign before Trump is sworn in as president in January. Trump is expected to fire Smith if he does not resign.
A New York state judge on Tuesday granted a request from the Manhattan district attorney’s office to delay proceedings in the third criminal case against Trump for a week to give prosecutors time to consider how his election victory would affect the case. . Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 26 in the case on nearly three dozen falsified business records related to a 2016 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Florida federal court Judge Aileen Cannon earlier this year dismissed a criminal case against Trump in which Smith accused the Republican of unlawfully withholding classified government records and obstructing the administration after he left office in early 2021. Officials recovered the records.
Cannon, who was nominated by Trump, also filed obstruction of justice charges against Trump’s valet Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, a Mar-a-Lago worker. accusation.
Cannon ruled that the appointment of Smith as special counsel by the head of the Justice Department, Attorney General Merrick Garland, violated a provision of the U.S. Constitution that governs how government officials are appointed.
Smith asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to overturn Cannon’s ruling.
But Smith’s office wrote in a filing with the court on Wednesday: “As a result of the election on November 5, 2024, one of the defendants in this case, Donald J. Trump, is expected to be certified as the President-elect. It was established on January 6, 2025 and opened on January 20, 2025.
“The Government respectfully requests that the Court suspend appeals and postpone the deadline for the Government’s reply brief (currently November 15, 2024) to December 2, 2024, to allow the Government time to assess this unprecedented situation and determine whether it is consistent with the administration of justice. the appropriate way forward for ministry policy,” the document said.
The document also says that if approval is delayed, prosecutors will inform the Court of Appeal “no later than December 2, 2024” of “the results of their deliberations and, where appropriate, a brief of reply.”
Trump was charged in state court in Atlanta with crimes related to his efforts to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 White House victory.
But Trump is not expected to face trial in the case while he is president. However, the case is likely to be put on hold until he leaves office in 2029.
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