"Circumstances have changed" Special investigator abandons the major criminal proceedings against Trump
Major success for Donald Trump shortly before he moves into the White House: the US Attorney's Office is dropping the two major criminal proceedings at federal level against the Republican.
25.11.2024, 22:49
25.11.2024, 22:53
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- Two criminal cases against future US President Donald Trump for attempted election interference and unlawful retention of classified documents are to be dropped.
- Special prosecutor Jack Smith requested on Monday that the federal charges be dropped before Trump's inauguration in January.
- He is thus following the long-standing practice of the US Department of Justice, according to which a sitting president cannot be brought to trial.
Special prosecutor Jack Smith requested that the proceedings for attempted election fraud in the US capital Washington be dropped. At the same time, he withdrew his appeal against the dismissal of the criminal proceedings in the document affair in the US state of Florida.
With this decision, the Department of Justice has probably just pre-empted Trump. As the proceedings are at federal level, the US President-elect would probably have stopped the investigations after taking office anyway and instructed the Department of Justice to close the proceedings. It remains to be seen whether the proceedings will be resumed after Trump's term of office.
Trump will be sworn in as president in January
Smith justified the decisions with the custom that the Department of Justice does not take action against sitting presidents. Trump will return to the White House in January - he won the presidential election at the beginning of November against Democrat Kamala Harris.
Trump's spokesman described the provisional end to the proceedings as "a great victory for the rule of law". He again described the proceedings themselves as "unlawful". The American people are demanding "an immediate end to the political instrumentalization" of the justice system. Experts also believe it is possible that Trump could pardon himself once he is in office - the long-term consequences of this are unclear.
He could have faced decades in prison
Trump was indicted in Washington at federal level in connection with attempted voter fraud and the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. These were the most serious charges against the 78-year-old. If convicted, he would have faced decades in prison. Smith revised the charges in the summer after the Supreme Court granted US presidents far-reaching immunity for official acts.
"The government's position on the merits of the defendant's prosecution has not changed. But the circumstances have changed," the motion letter states. The prosecution emphasizes that the decision has no substantive grounds. However, it is leaving open the possibility of bringing charges again as soon as the Republican is no longer president.
Second case had already been dropped
In the US state of Florida, Trump was accused of unlawfully storing highly sensitive information from his time in office as President in private rooms. The responsible judge in Florida, who was once appointed by Trump, dropped the case in the summer. Special investigator Smith initially appealed against this - he has now refrained from doing so. However, Smith wants to continue proceedings against two co-defendants: Trump's assistant Walt Nauta and lawyer Carlos De Oliveira.
There had already been indications that Smith would not pursue the proceedings against Trump any further. Trump has always described the investigations against him as political persecution and spoke of a "witch hunt". Trump was criminally charged several times after his first term in office. In addition to the proceedings in Washington and Florida, Trump was found guilty in a hush-money trial at state level in New York. The announcement of the sentence was postponed indefinitely last week.
The judiciary is also taking action against him in the state of Georgia - but the proceedings are currently largely paralyzed due to legal dodges. It once looked as if Trump would spend much of the election year in court due to the numerous investigations against him. However, Trump's lawyers managed to block the proceedings with legal tricks.
