Special counsel drops case against Trump
Trump may avoid prosecution, at least for now. Special Counsel Jack Smith requested a dismissal of the federal indictment against the president-elect. Smith said the two felony cases against Trump, one accusing him of attempting to overturn the 2020 election and the other of illegally retaining classified documents, will be dropped. Reason: The Justice Department policy does not allow prosecutions against sitting presidents, an outcome he was banking on.
There is no indication that this move will save Smith from being removed from his special counsel position, as Trump has promised to do.
Thus, all the time, money, and energy devoted to prosecuting Trump is possibly null and void. In his statement to Judge Tanya S. Chutkin, who is overseeing the case in Federal District Court in Washington, D.C., he wrote that it “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.”
In the wake of Trump’s victory and threat he brings to any and all those opposed to his leadership, rather than face his wrath, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, the first African American to be the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and one of the youngest, announced Monday that he would resign in December, before Trump’s moving into the Oval Office.
“Today is a bittersweet day for me, as I announce my resignation as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York,” Williams said. “It is bitter in the sense that I am leaving my dream job, leading an institution I love that is filled with the finest public servants in the world. It is sweet that I am confident I am leaving at a time when the office is functioning at an incredibly high level — upholding and exceeding its already high standard of excellence, integrity, and independence.”
He added that his success in the office was “due to the career attorneys, staff members, and law enforcement agents of this office.Working with them during my tenure has been a privilege of a lifetime. They are worthy custodians of this office’s tradition of doing the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons. They are patriots. They are my family. And I will miss them dearly.”
Trump had earlier announced that he would nominate Jan Clayton to the position.
Will Smith be the next to leave before Trump takes power?
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