Donald Trump, the President-elect of the United States set to take office in January next year, has shaken off the long-standing 'judicial risk' that had been holding him back. This follows the U.S. court's dismissal of the criminal charges related to Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. This occurred just hours after Special Counsel Jack Smith officially requested the dismissal of the charges. Trump welcomed the decision, calling it "the worst event in history" and stating, "I endured and won despite all adversity."
According to AP News and others, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the criminal charges against Trump on the afternoon of the 25th (local time). This was in response to Special Counsel Smith’s official request to the court to dismiss the charges based on the policy that criminal charges cannot be brought against a sitting president. Smith explained the reason for dropping the case in a six-page document submitted to the Washington DC court, stating, "According to the Constitution, the Department of Justice’s position is that the case must be dismissed before the defendant takes office."
The U.S. Department of Justice maintains a policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents, viewing such prosecutions as interference with the execution of presidential duties. For sitting presidents, impeachment proceedings, rather than ordinary criminal prosecution, must be followed if necessary. Additionally, Special Counsel Smith requested the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to remove Trump from the list of co-defendants in the classified documents leak case. This case is also expected to be dismissed by the court soon.
Trump immediately welcomed the decision. In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, he stated, "These cases, like the others, were baseless and lawless and should never have been brought," and claimed, "The Democrats wasted over $100 million (about 140 billion KRW) in taxes fighting against me, their political opponent." He added, "I endured and won despite all adversity," and concluded with "Make America Great Again (MAGA)."
Special Counsel Smith, appointed by Merrick Garland, the U.S. Attorney General under the Joe Biden administration, charged Trump last August with four counts related to the January 6 Capitol riot, which occurred shortly after the 2020 election, alleging Trump was behind the incident. Earlier, in June of the same year, Trump was indicted for leaking and illegally storing government classified documents from the White House and other government offices. Additionally, Trump has been indicted in Georgia for attempting to overturn the election results and in New York City in connection with hush money payments related to a sexual misconduct scandal. Although a guilty verdict was reached in the hush money case, the presiding judge recently officially postponed sentencing.
Throughout the campaign, Trump had criticized the indictments against him as "political oppression" and a "witch hunt." He also declared that he would dismiss Special Counsel Smith immediately upon taking office. The Washington Post (WP) reported, "With Trump’s victory in the election, Special Counsel Smith had little choice but to discontinue the case," and added, "Smith is expected to resign before Trump’s inauguration to prevent the President-elect from carrying out his promise to fire him." Smith is reported to resign before Trump takes office in January next year.
Now, according to Department of Justice regulations, Special Counsel Smith must release a final report. However, The New York Times (NYT) reported that the report is unlikely to contain new information beyond the evidence already included in court documents submitted.
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