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A judge granted Special Counsel Jack Smith’s request Monday to drop all charges against President-elect Trump in the federal case over his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Why it matters: Smith has already taken steps to wind down the two federal cases against Trump that he’s overseeing after the president-elect became the first convicted felon to win the White House.
- Smith has been in discussions with Justice Department officials about how to put the cases to rest.
- Beyond Trump’s win, the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling thrust the D.C. case into complicated legal territory, leaving the judge to grapple with how much of the case could proceed given the highest court’s decision.
Driving the news: U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan granted Smith’s motion hours after it was filed Monday. She dismissed the case without prejudice, meaning it could be reopened in the future.
- Smith wrote in the filing seeking the dismissal of the election interference case that while prosecutors’ view of Trump’s alleged crimes has not changed, the circumstances surrounding his looming trial have.
- Trump’s victory “sets at odds two fundamental and compelling national interests,” Smith wrote: the Constitutional requirement that the president should not be “unduly encumbered” and a commitment to the rule of law.
- There is longstanding policy at the Justice Department that a sitting president can’t be prosecuted — a reality that made the stakes of Trump’s presidential bid even higher.
- “This outcome is not based on the merits or strength of the case against the defendant,” Smith’s filing read.
Zoom out: Smith also filed Monday to dismiss his appeal in Trump’s classified documents case, which was dismissed this summer by Judge Aileen Cannon.
- But the appeal concerning the other two defendants in the case, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, will continue, Smith noted in his motion to dismiss with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Catch up quick: Chutkan accepted a motion from Smith to pause proceedings in the Jan. 6 case and cancel remaining deadlines earlier this month after Trump secured his historic win.
Flashback: Smith filed a slimmed-down superseding indictment in the federal Jan. 6 case in August following the Supreme Court’s ruling that presidents have immunity for “official acts.”
- The four charges Trump faced remained the same: conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.
- But the document was shaved down in response to the conservative-leaning court’s decision.
What they’re saying: Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung celebrated Smith’s motion as “a major victory for the rule of law” in a Monday statement.
- “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 said in a Truth Social post.
Go deeper: Trump’s New York hush money sentencing paused indefinitely, judge rules
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with President-elect Trump’s comments on Truth Social and Judge Chutkan’s ruling.