Special counsel Jack Smith expected to wind down Trump prosecutions: Sources
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Special counsel Jack Smith is in active talks with senior leadership at the Justice Department evaluating ways he can end his prosecutions of President-elect Donald Trump, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
The decision is based on longstanding Department of Justice policy that a sitting president cannot face criminal prosecution while in office, sources said.
It is unclear as of today how Smith's prosecutors will approach dismissing both the federal election subversion case in Washington, D.C., and their ongoing appeal of Judge Aileen Cannon's dismissal of the classified documents case.
Trump has vowed to fire Smith "within two seconds."
"We got immunity at the Supreme Court. It's so easy. I would fire him within two seconds. He'll be one of the first things addressed," Trump said on a call into the "Hugh Hewitt Show" on Oct. 24.
But due to Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a president, a firing is unneeded.
Smith was appointed to his position by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022 to investigate Trump and his allies' efforts to overturn the 2020 election as well as Trump's alleged unlawful possession of highly classified documents he took from his time in the White House.
On June 8, 2023, Smith indicted Trump on charges he unlawfully retained classified documents and obstructed the government's efforts to retrieve them. Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges in a federal court in Florida.
On Aug. 1, 2023, Trump was indicted on four felony counts related to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Trump also pleaded not guilty in federal court to those charges.
Both cases were thrown into disarray by the Supreme Court's decision earlier this summer giving presidents partial immunity against prosecution.
The Jan. 6 case was sent back to a lower court, while Cannon, a Trump nominee, dismissed the classified documents case, ruling Smith's appointment as special counsel was unconstitutional because he was not appointed by the president or confirmed by Congress.
The Manhattan district attorney's office, meanwhile, declined to comment Wednesday on Trump's pending sentencing in his criminal hush money case .
Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 26 for falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
In addition, a decision is pending before a state appeals court regarding whether Trump must pay all or part of a nearly $500 million judgment in the civil fraud case brought by the New York Attorney General Letitia James.
"No matter what the next administration throws at us, we're ready. We're ready to respond to their attacks," James said Wednesday. "We will continue to stand tall in the face of injustice, revenge, or retribution."
Trump also owes former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll about $90 million after juries in two civil cases found that he sexually assaulted her in the 1990s then defamed her.
"Mr. Trump's election to the presidency does nothing to change either the fact, as determined by two separate juries, that he sexually assaulted and defamed Ms. Carroll, or the applicable legal principles under which he was held liable for that conduct," Carroll's attorney Roberta Kaplan said in a statement provided to ABC News.
ABC News' Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
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In the meantime, Biden's DOJ will have to figure a way to climb down from the limb they are out on.
It would be nice if it were into a pit of sulfur and flames they could never get out of.
Unfortunately, they are Democrats and won't be held accountable.
It wouldn't surprise me greatly if they found a way to hand it over to the Democrats to use in a push for Impeachment.
Now baby, listen baby, don't ya treat me this way
'Cause I'll be back on my feet some day ... hit the road Jack
Spoken like a true gangster.
The useful fools in the media are so busy today blaming the Democrats that they forgot all about Trump's crimes.
Someone said today that never again should someone be required to say whether or not they are a convicted felon on a job application. If it doesnt matter for the president why should it matter for anyone else.
Forgot? They have referenced them multiple times today. Do you think voters forgot?
If none of you voted for the asshole why are you all so happy today ?
What makes you think that I’m happy about the election outcome?
That’s ok, i’m happy enough to be happy for both of us.
Dems had shitty policies that did not help average citizens, they ran a shitty candidate who could not articulate economic policies that would turn the page on the dumpster fire biden/HARRIS years. She picked a shitty individual as her vp. Who should the media blame?