Nov. 6 (UPI) — Special counsel Jack Smith is working with the Justice Department to wind down two federal cases against President-elect Donald Trump before he takes office in January, according to sources familiar with the deliberations.
Smith, who moved forward with his federal election interference case against Trump just weeks before the election, and DOJ officials have determined that there can be no trials after Trump’s resounding presidential win, two people familiar with the talks told CNN, NBC and NPR on Wednesday.
The Justice Department has a longstanding policy against prosecuting a sitting president, which means the cases — including allegations of mishandled documents from the former president’s first term — are likely to end before Trump’s inauguration.
Last month, Smith’s 165-page election interference filing was unsealed to reveal his case against Trump. The former Republican nominee blasted the timing, calling the unsealing “election interference” five weeks before the election.
“Democrats are weaponizing the Justice Department against me because they know I am winning, and they are desperate to prop up their failing candidate, Kamala Harris,” Trump wrote last month in a post on Truth Social, where he called it a “hit job.”
During his campaign, Trump repeatedly vowed to fire Smith “within two seconds” after taking office. On Wednesday, his legal team was considering its own next steps.
“The American people have re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate to Make America Great Again,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.
“It is now abundantly clear that Americans want an immediate end to the weaponization of our justice system, so we can, as President Trump said in his historic speech last night, unify our country and work together for the betterment of our nation,” Cheung added.
While the two federal cases are likely to be dismissed, Trump still faces a sentencing hearing scheduled for Nov. 26, in his New York felony conviction. Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment during his 2016 campaign.
New York Judge Juan Merchan could still scrap the conviction before sentencing, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this summer that presidents are granted some presidential immunity.
Trump’s Georgia election interference case is currently tied up with appeals over possible conflicts of interest involving District Attorney Fani Willis.
