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Special counsel Jack Smith has moved to cancel a series of deadlines in his Washington, D.C. criminal case against Donald Trump for seeking to subvert the 2020 election.
It’s the first public acknowledgment by Smith’s team that the case cannot continue in light of Trump’s imminent return to power.
“As a result of the election held on November 5, 2024, the defendant is expected to be certified as President-elect on January 6, 2025, and inaugurated on January 20, 2025,” prosecutors in the special counsel’s office wrote in the one-page filing Friday.
“The Government respectfully requests that the Court vacate the remaining deadlines in the pretrial schedule to afford the Government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy,” they wrote.
Justice Department officials had foreshadowed this move earlier this week, guided by long standing agency policy that prohibits pursuing charges against a sitting president. The move Friday appears to be a precursor for the charges being dropped altogether and for Smith’s likely exit from the department before Trump is inaugurated in January.
It’s the first public acknowledgment by Smith’s team that the case cannot continue in light of Trump’s imminent return to power.
“As a result of the election held on November 5, 2024, the defendant is expected to be certified as President-elect on January 6, 2025, and inaugurated on January 20, 2025,” prosecutors in the special counsel’s office wrote in the one-page filing Friday.
“The Government respectfully requests that the Court vacate the remaining deadlines in the pretrial schedule to afford the Government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy,” they wrote.
Justice Department officials had foreshadowed this move earlier this week, guided by long standing agency policy that prohibits pursuing charges against a sitting president. The move Friday appears to be a precursor for the charges being dropped altogether and for Smith’s likely exit from the department before Trump is inaugurated in January.
