Trump Overcomes 'Judicial Risks'... US Special Counsel Drops Charges Including Election Overturning

Special Prosecutor Requests Dismissal of Election Overturn and Classified Document Leak Charges
Other Two Criminal Cases Also Dropped
Trump Side Calls It "A Major Victory for the Rule of Law"

The U.S. Department of Justice, which had indicted President-elect Donald Trump on charges including attempting to overturn the 2020 election results and leaking White House classified documents, has requested the court to dismiss these charges. Although President-elect Trump faced four criminal indictments following his defeat in the 2020 election, his landslide victory in the recent election has swiftly resolved the 'judicial risks' that had been holding him back. Trump's team praised this development as a "significant victory for the rule of law."

On the 25th (local time), Special Counsel Jack Smith filed a motion with the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. requesting the dismissal of the charges against President-elect Trump related to attempts to overturn the election results.

In a six-page document submitted to the court, Smith stated, "The government's position on the defendant's indictment has not changed, but the circumstances have." He explained that, in accordance with the Department of Justice's longstanding policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents, they intend to dismiss the charges ahead of Trump's inauguration. However, he emphasized that "the seriousness of the charged crimes, the strength of the evidence collected by the government, and the value of the prosecution remain unchanged." This clarified that although the criminal allegations against President-elect Trump are serious and supported by substantial evidence, the charges are being dropped due to his status as a sitting president, following DOJ precedent. In the United States, a sitting president must be impeached rather than criminally prosecuted if necessary.

Previously, in August last year, Special Counsel Smith indicted President-elect Trump on four counts, alleging his involvement behind the January 6 Capitol riot that occurred immediately after the 2020 election. Two months earlier, in June last year, Trump was indicted for leaking and unlawfully retaining classified government documents from the White House and other locations. Regarding this, Smith also requested the Florida court to dismiss the charges in that case on the same day. It is reported that Smith will resign before Trump's inauguration in January next year.

As a result, President-elect Trump can quickly shed the judicial risks that have long surrounded him. Currently, Trump faces four criminal indictments, but with Smith's request to dismiss charges, trials for two of these cases are expected to be halted. Additionally, the trial related to the "hush money" payment in a sexual misconduct case, which resulted in a guilty verdict last May and is awaiting sentencing, is also expected to be paused until Trump completes his second term. Prosecutors have already requested a suspension of that trial. The remaining criminal indictment concerns allegations that Trump exerted undue pressure to overturn the 2020 Georgia vote count. Although the Georgia prosecutor indicted Trump in August last year, adding to his judicial risks, this case is also likely to fizzle out.

Stephen Cheung, spokesperson for the Trump campaign, called it a "significant victory for the rule of law" and described it as "an important step to end attempts to politically weaponize our judicial system."

The U.S. daily The New York Times (NYT) commented, "The Department of Justice holds the position that indicting a sitting president is unconstitutional," and assessed that "the special counsel yielded to the DOJ policy of not prosecuting a sitting president." The Washington Post (WP) reported, "With Trump’s election victory, Special Counsel Smith had little choice but to discontinue the case," and added, "Smith will resign before Trump’s inauguration, preventing Trump from fulfilling his promise to fire him."