The US Department of Justice is seeking to drop two federal criminal cases against Donald Trump, abandoning its historic attempts to prosecute the former president after voters sent him back to the White House for another term.
Special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed to oversee DoJ investigations involving the former president, said in a court filing in Washington on Monday that a case accusing Trump of interfering with the 2020 election must be dismissed before his inauguration in January. He cited a long-standing DoJ policy against indicting and prosecuting a sitting president.
“That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the government stands fully behind,” Smith wrote.