Saturday, December 14, 2024

Prosecutors file motion to dismiss Jan. 6 case against Trump : NPR

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Special counsel Jack Smith led the Jan. 6 case against Donald Trump. That case is now all but dead.

Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images


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Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Federal prosecutors have filed a motion to dismiss the Jan. 6 case against Donald Trump.

The move was widely expected.

Just a day after the election, Jack Smith, the special counsel investigating the case, began to unwind the federal cases against Trump: the first for clinging to power in 2020, events that resulted in the storming of the U.S. Capitol; the second for hoarding classified documents and obstructing FBI efforts to retrieve them.

Monday’s filing is in line with longstanding Justice Department policy that says a sitting president cannot be indicted or tried on criminal charges because it would violate the Constitution and interfere with the working of the executive branch.

Over the summer, the U.S. Supreme Court said the constitution gave the president broad immunity, putting the cases against Trump in peril.

The Florida documents case is yet to be resolved.

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