Federal indictment dismisses charges against Donald Trump of illegally trying to overturn election

Washington: According to local media, a US federal judge who was presiding over the case alleging that former President Donald Trump unlawfully attempted to rescind the 2020 election has consented to drop the charges after receiving a request from special counsel Jack Smith.

A US court of appeals was also informed by Smith that the special prosecutors are dropping their appeal against the case’s previous dismissal for the improper handling and storage of hundreds of sensitive papers at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.

In both instances, Trump had entered a not guilty plea.

The prosecution of the 45th and 47th presidents of the United States is now complete. Trump was accused of plotting to rig the 2020 election. After defeating Democratic opponent and US Vice President Kamala Harris in the November 5 US presidential election, he was elected president-elect. On January 20 of next year, he will take office as the 47th president of the nation.

According to Politico, Special Prosecutor Jack Smith requested that the charges be withdrawn, citing a Justice Department principle that prohibits prosecution of an elected president during their tenure in office.

Trump was charged in the Washington, DC, case with forcing state authorities to alter the 2020 election results that indicated Democrat Joe Biden had won and circulating false information claiming Biden’s victory was solely due to widespread vote fraud and anomalies.

Smith initially requested on Monday that US District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan drop the charges against Trump for allegedly attempting to thwart Joe Biden’s 2020 victory. According to the Washington Post, Smith stated that while he “stands fully behind” the accusations, Justice Department guidelines made it clear that the case could not proceed.

“After careful consideration, the department has determined that [the Office of Legal Counsel’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 stated in the filing. “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 said in a court filing that he spoke with Trump’s attorneys, who did not raise any objections to the petition to dismiss the lawsuit. Prosecutors may choose to prosecute Trump once again after he leaves office in January 2029, since the special counsel has attempted to have the case dismissed without prejudice.

Smith requested in a different court document that an Atlanta appellate court strike Trump from a current appeal. According to the Voice of America, the prosecutor had first appealed the dismissal of accusations that Trump stockpiled hundreds of secret national security materials at his Florida estate, Ma-a-Lago, after he left office in 2021.

“The American people re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate to make America great again,” said Trump spokesman Steven Cheung in a statement in response to Smith’s plea to dismiss the charges. The DOJ’s ruling today is a significant win for the rule of law and puts a stop to the illegal government litigation against President Trump. President Trump and the American people are eager to bring our nation together and demand that the political weaponization of our legal system halt immediately.

“These cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless and should never have been brought,” Trump said on his Truth Social social media site.

He said that the Democratic Party’s battle against its political opponent, ME, had squandered over $100 million in government funds. Even though it was a political takeover and a dark chapter in our nation’s history, I persisted in the face of overwhelming obstacles and succeeded.”

But according to CNN, Trump will not be able to stop state officials in Georgia and New York from prosecuting him in his capacity as president. The courts in those instances will still need to resolve any concerns and doubts about immunity brought up by his return to the White House.

The judge presiding over Trump’s criminal hush money case in New York indefinitely delayed his sentence last week. Earlier this year, a state jury found Trump guilty on 34 charges of fabricating company documents to conceal a 2016 campaign hush money payment to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, who claimed to have had an affair with the president-elect. The affair has been denied by Trump.

According to the US broadcaster’s claim, Trump is still attempting to avoid punishment in Georgia, where he is a defendant in a wide lawsuit alleging that he and a number of his associates attempted to rescind Peach State’s 2020 election defeat.