Thursday, 28 November 2024

UPDATE: Trump Case Officially DISMISSED

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The federal election interference case against President Trump has officially been tossed.

U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan dismissed the charges against Trump after Special counsel Jack Smith requested to toss the case.

“Chutkan dismissed the charges against Trump without prejudice, leaving open the highly unlikely possibility of a future prosecution,” ABC News noted.

“Judge Tanya Chutkan approved Special Council Jack Smith’s motion to dismiss the election interference case against Trump without prejudice, citing longstanding DOJ policy barring prosecution of sitting presidents. The court found no evidence of prosecutorial misconduct and emphasized the temporary nature of presidential immunity,” Mario Nawfal wrote.

“Charges against co-defendants in a separate classified documents case remain intact,” he added.

Per ABC News:

In a two-page opinion, Judge Chutkan wrote that dismissing the case without prejudice is “appropriate” and would not harm the “public interest,” agreeing with Smith’s argument that Trump’s immunity would not cover him when he leaves office.

“Dismissal without prejudice is also consistent with the Government’s understanding that the immunity afforded to a sitting President is temporary, expiring when they leave office,” Chutkan wrote.

However, it’s extremely unlikely that any prosecutor would attempt to bring the same charges in the future, in part because the statute of limitations for the alleged crimes will have expired by the time Trump leaves office in four years.

Trump’s lawyers did not oppose the government’s motion to dismiss the case without prejudice.

“And just like Jack Smith, Chutkan has to take one final shot suggesting the case can be revisited after Trump leaves office in January 2029,” Julie Kelly commented.

From The Hill:

She dismissed it without prejudice, leaving open a theoretical possibility that the government can bring charges again after Trump leaves office.

But the two-page opinion officially marks the end of the historic indictment brought last year, which charged Trump with four federal felonies over his efforts to overturn his election loss to President Biden that culminated in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

Earlier in the day, Smith moved to drop both of his criminal cases against Trump in alignment with a Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.

“After careful consideration, the Department has determined that OLC’s prior opinions concerning the Constitution’s prohibition on federal indictment and prosecution of a sitting President apply to this situation and that as a result this prosecution must be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated,” Smith wrote, referencing the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.

Read the full opinion below:


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