Special Counsel Jack Smith dropped the federal government’s two criminal cases against President-elect Donald Trump on Monday, as Trump’s state cases are already poised to be delayed for years as he takes office, underscoring how the ex-president’s legal strategy to drag out his prosecutions for as long as possible ultimately kept him from facing most of his criminal charges.
Key Facts
Trump’s election was a death knell for the two federal criminal cases against him, as Smith asked the court to dismiss the two cases against Trump in light of his pending inauguration, and Trump’s criminal case in Georgia is expected to be postponed until at least 2029 — leaving Trump’s New York conviction as the only charges against him that have been holding up, though his sentencing is now on hold potentially until after he leaves office and Judge Juan Merchan is still weighing whether to throw out the verdict.
Federal Election Case: Trump was indicted in Aug. 2023 for trying to overturn the 2020 election, and though the case was originally scheduled to go to trial in March, the proceedings were paused when Trump asked for the charges to be thrown out because he has presidential immunity—a request the Supreme Court granted in part in July, after the issue took seven months to play out, forcing prosecutors to retool the indictment.
After delaying the case after Election Day while he decided how to move forward—ultimately filing a new indictment—Smith moved for the charges to be dropped entirely on Monday, citing Trump’s election and the Justice Department’s policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents, and Chutkan agreed, formally dismissing the case.
Federal Documents Case: Trump was indicted in June 2023 for allegedly withholding White House documents and obstructing the government’s investigation into them, and the case was assigned to Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who already had a reputation for being deferential to Trump in the investigation that led up to his indictment.
While Cannon originally scheduled the case to go to trial in May, Trump filed a number of motions trying to drag out the case that Cannon slow-walked ruling on, with the judge ultimately ruling in May to suspend the trial indefinitely while issues were still pending and then dismissing the charges entirely in July—and while the special counsel appealed Cannon’s ruling, Smith asked for that appeal to be put on hold after Trump’s election and then moved Monday to have the case dropped entirely.
New York Criminal Case: Trump’s criminal case in New York was the only one to go to trial, as he was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records based on hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels—but he successfully delayed his sentencing, originally scheduled for July, with Merchan agreeing in September to postpone the sentencing until after the election in order to avoid any perception of political bias.
Merchan then paused deadlines in the case after prosecutors said they needed to evaluate how the case should move forward in light of Trump’s election, and ruled Friday to postpone the sentencing while Trump tries to have the verdict thrown out on account of his election—and while it’s unclear when the sentencing could be rescheduled, prosecutors said before Merchan’s ruling that while they don’t want the verdict to be dismissed entirely, they think it would be fair to postpone the sentencing until after Trump leaves office.
Georgia Election Case: Trump and his allies were indicted in August 2023 for their efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and while a trial date for Trump was not set in the case, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asked for a trial to take place in August—before Trump and his co-defendants asked for Willis to be disqualified from the case over her romantic relationship with lead prosecutor Nathan Wade.
While a court ruled in March that Willis could stay on the case—but Wade had to resign—the case is still on pause while an appeals court considers the issue, and while Trump can’t get out of state charges as president, he’s expected to still try and have the charges thrown out anyway, and the court will likely at a minimum pause the criminal case against him until after he leaves office.
What To Watch For
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has not yet ruled on Smith’s request to drop the documents case, though given Trump’s election and his attorneys agreeing with Smith’s motion to dismiss, it’s expected the court will side with Smith and drop the appeal. Smith did not drop the government’s criminal cases against Trump aides Walt Nauta and Carlos deOliveira, who were charged with aiding Trump’s effort to conceal White House documents, though Trump’s Justice Department will likely end those cases after he takes office. Separately, while the Georgia case is still on pause, multiple reports suggest Trump’s lawyers are preparing to ask the court to have the case dismissed against him entirely on the basis of him becoming president, though it remains to be seen how that will play out.
Will Jack Smith Resign—and Will He Write A Report?
Now that he’s moved to drop the cases against Trump, Smith reportedly intends to resign before the incoming president takes office, though he’s expected to file a final report before he does. That report would summarize the government’s two investigations into Trump, much of which has already been revealed through court filings. Smith faces a time crunch for getting the report in, as while Attorney General Merrick Garland is likely to make it public if it’s completed before Trump takes office, the future Trump-controlled Justice Department would likely keep it hidden.
Will Trump’s New York Sentencing Go Forward?
It’s unclear what will happen with Trump’s sentencing now that Merchan has postponed it indefinitely. The judge first has to decide two of Trump’s motions to dismiss the verdict against him, as the president-elect has claimed both that his conviction should be thrown out because of his election, and because of the Supreme Court’s ruling giving him some immunity from criminal charges. That won’t be decided until at least Dec. 9, when Merchan has asked for all the documents in the dispute over Trump’s verdict to be submitted by. Even if Merchan does rule quickly to uphold the guilty verdict, however, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Trump’s sentencing would take place before Inauguration Day. Prosecutors said in a letter to the judge last week that while they don’t think the charges against Trump should be dropped entirely, they do think the court has to balance carrying out the case against Trump and Trump’s presidency—suggesting one way to do that would be to postpone Trump’s sentencing until after he leaves office. Even if Merchan doesn’t go along with that idea, Trump could also appeal Merchan’s rulings upholding the verdict, which could stretch out the proceedings even further before the sentencing could take place.
What About Trump’s Civil Cases?
Unlike Trump’s federal criminal charges, the civil cases playing out against Trump—including in federal court—aren’t expected to be impacted by his election, as Supreme Court precedent in Clinton v. Jones found sitting presidents can still be held liable in civil court for actions before they took office. That means writer E. Jean Carroll’s two defamation cases against Trump, as well as the civil fraud case against Trump and his business associates, will not be impacted, as Trump appeals the rulings against him in those cases. It also means if the appeals court upholds the decisions, Trump will also still be liable for the more than $90 million he owes in Carroll’s two cases and more than $470 million—and counting—in the civil fraud case. Trump is also being sued in civil court by Democratic lawmakers and Capitol police officers for his role in the Jan. 6 riot, and judges have already ruled he is not immune from those lawsuits.
Will Trump Get Revenge Against Prosecutors And Judges?
Trump has vowed “retribution” against his political enemies when he retakes the White House, and has singled out Smith as someone he wants revenge against, threatening to deport the special counsel even though he is not an immigrant. Others involved with Trump’s cases who he’s attacked include Carroll, Merchan and Willis, as well as New York Attorney General Letitia James and New York Judge Arthur Engoron, who brought and adjudicated the civil fraud case, respectively. On the flip side, Cannon may be rewarded by a future President Trump, as he’s repeatedly praised the judge for the favorable rulings she’s issued in the documents case. ABC News reported before the election Cannon was on Trump’s short list for attorney general, and it’s also been floated that she could get a more prestigious judicial appointment, including being a contender for the Supreme Court.
By Alison Durkee from Forbes