 "Explained: All cases against US President-elect Donald Trump and where they stand")
Special Counsel Jack Smith has moved to drop two cases against Donald Trump.
The development comes as Trump, the president-elect, prepares to take office in January.
It is in line with longstanding Justice Department policy which states that sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.
The moves by Smith, who was appointed in 2022 by US Attorney General Merrick Garland, represents a remarkable shift from the special prosecutor who obtained indictments against Trump in two separate cases accusing him of crimes that threatened US election integrity and national security.
Prosecutors acknowledged that the election of a president who faced ongoing criminal cases created an unprecedented predicament for the Justice Department.
Trump, taking to his Truth Social website, crowed, “I persevered, against all odds, and won."
“These cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought,” Trump added.
But what do we know about the status of the cases against Trump?
Let’s take a closer look:
January 6 election interference case
This case against Trump has been dismissed after an approval from to US District Judge Tanya judge.
The election case brought last year was once seen as one of the most serious legal threats facing Trump as he tried to reclaim the White House.
As per Forbes, Smith and prosecutors wrote in their brief that the country has “never faced the circumstance here, where a federal indictment against a private citizen has been returned by a grand jury and a criminal prosecution is already underway when the defendant is elected President.”
He was indicted for plotting to overturn his defeat to Joe Biden in 2020, an effort that climaxed with his supporters’ violent attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
But the case quickly stalled amid legal fighting over Trump’s sweeping claims of immunity from prosecution for acts he took while in the White House.
The US Supreme Court in July ruled for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, and sent the case back Chutkan to determine which allegations in the indictment, if any, could proceed to trial.
The case was just beginning to pick up steam again in the trial court in the weeks leading up to this year’s election. Smith’s team in October filed a lengthy brief laying out new evidence it planned to use against him at trial, accusing him of “resorting to crimes” in an increasingly desperate effort to overturn the will of voters after he lost to Biden.
The Justice Department policy that the prosecutors cited dates back to the 1970s. It holds that a criminal prosecution of a sitting president would violate the US Constitution by undermining the ability of the country’s chief executive to function.
In dismissing the case, Chutkan acknowledged prosecutors’ request to do so “without prejudice,” raising the possibility that they could try to bring charges against Trump when his term is over. She wrote that is “consistent with the Government’s understanding that the immunity afforded to a sitting President is temporary, expiring when they leave office.”
Classified documents case
As per Axios, Smith on Monday filed a separate motion asking that Trump be dropped as co-defendant in the classified documents case.
The case had been widely seen as legally clear cut, especially because the conduct in question occurred after Trump left the White House and lost the powers of the presidency.
The indictment included dozens of felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding classified records from his presidency at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and obstructing federal efforts to get them back. He has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.
The case was dismissed by judge Aileen Cannon in July.
Cannon’s rulings – which came slowly and delayed the case – played into Trump’s strategy of pushing off deadlines in all his criminal cases.
Aileen also entertained defence motions and arguments that experts said other judges would have dispensed with without hearings.
In May, Aileen indefinitely cancelled the trial date amid a series of unresolved legal issues before dismissing the case outright two months later.
Smith had appealed her decision.
However, Smith had asked the federal court to pause his appeal in the aftermath of the election.
Smith’s team said it was leaving intact charges against two co-defendants in the classified documents case — Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira — because “no principle of temporary immunity applies to them.”
Hush money case
The New York case involved hush money payments.
It resulted in Trump being convicted on all 34 felony charges of falsifying business records to make a payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
It was the first time a former president had been found guilty of a crime.
As per Axios, Judge Juan Merchan has indefinitely postponed the sentencing in the case.
Trump’s lawyers are trying to have the conviction dismissed before he takes office, arguing that letting the verdict stand will interfere with his presidential transition and duties.
Merchan has told Trump’s lawyers to file the motion by December 2 and the prosecution to respond by December 9.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office is fighting the dismissal but has indicated that it would be open to delaying sentencing until Trump leaves office.
Bragg, a Democrat, has said the solution needs to balance the obligations of the presidency with “the sanctity of the jury verdict.”
Georgia election trial
Trump was also indicted in Georgia along with 18 others accused of participating in a sprawling scheme to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election there.
Any trial appears unlikely there while Trump holds office.
The prosecution already was on hold after an appeals court agreed to review whether to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she had hired to lead the case.
As per Axios, arguments in the case are set to be heard on December 5.
Four defendants have pleaded guilty after reaching deals with prosecutors. Trump and the others have pleaded not guilty.
Steven Cheung, Trump’s incoming White House communications director, said Americans “want an immediate end to the political weaponisation of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country.”
Trump has long described the investigations as politically motivated, and he has vowed to fire Smith as soon as he takes office in January. Now he will start his second term free from criminal scrutiny by the government that he will lead.
With inputs from agencies
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