Ministry of Justice Voices Compliance with Non-Prosecution Policy for Sitting President
Trump Threatens "Fire Special Prosecutor Within 2 Seconds If Elected"
As former President Donald Trump, elected as the 47th President of the United States, enters the White House, it is expected that he will also be freed from the judicial risks that have been binding him.
According to Politico and others on the 6th (local time), the U.S. Department of Justice is considering closing two federal cases in which former President Trump was indicted before his inauguration. Sources explained that with Trump's return to the White House confirmed, there is now a need to comply with the DOJ policy that a sitting president cannot be indicted.
Previously, former President Trump was indicted by a special counsel on two criminal cases: one for illegally removing and storing classified national documents at his Florida residence after his first term, and another for attempting to overturn the 2020 election results. However, the federal Supreme Court recognized broad criminal immunity for former presidents regarding official acts during their tenure in July, significantly weakening the momentum for prosecution.
Sources said, "The DOJ was aware that these cases involved such contentious issues that swift trials were impossible, even up to Supreme Court appeals," and that with Trump's election confirmed, they judged there was no practical effect in maintaining the prosecution and prolonging the litigation. Earlier, Trump had claimed the criminal charges against him were a 'political purge' and threatened to dismiss Special Counsel Jack Smith "within 2 seconds" after inauguration. The new Attorney General appointed by Trump will have the authority to dismiss criminal cases pending in federal courts.
Aside from the federal cases, former President Trump still faces two other criminal cases. One is a separate election result overturning allegation prosecuted by the Georgia state prosecutors, and the other is a case in New York involving accounting fraud related to hush money for a sexual misconduct scandal. The Georgia case is currently on hold due to a scandal among the investigative prosecutors. Although even a sitting president cannot order the dismissal of state prosecutions, experts widely agree that if the lead prosecutor is dismissed, the successor who would have to investigate a sitting president may not be found, likely causing the case to fizzle out.
The New York case has resulted in a felony guilty verdict, with sentencing scheduled for the 26th. However, since Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the trial, has previously postponed the sentencing multiple times considering the election, it is expected that a significant sentence such as imprisonment will be difficult to impose. Jessica Levinson, a constitutional law professor at Loyola Law School, evaluated, "(Trump's) aggressive efforts to delay these cases as long as possible are now paying off."
Steven Cheung, spokesperson for Trump's presidential campaign, emphasized, "Former President Trump was elected by the overwhelming mandate of the American people to make America great again," adding, "As Trump said in his speech, it has become clear that the people now want an immediate end to the weaponization of the judicial system and desire unity and cooperation for the nation's progress."
However, there are also voices criticizing that judicial justice has succumbed to power. Former attorney Joyce Vance told NBC, "The idea of winning an election to avoid justice is fundamentally at odds with the expectations we have for our legal system and politics," and pointed out, "What troubles me is that he (Trump) has escaped what the jury should have decided based on the evidence."
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