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Trump world is celebrating after special counsel Jack Smith moved to dismiss two federal cases brought against President-elect Donald Trump.
Smith’s team asked a federal judge Monday to dismiss the 2020 election interference case brought against Trump, who was charged with four felonies last year. Later on Monday, Smith also asked to dismiss the classified documents case brought against Trump.
Trump and his allies—who have decried the legal cases as politically motivated—are celebrating Smith’s latest moves as Trump prepares to head to the White House next year.
“The American People re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate to Make America Great Again. Today’s decision by the DOJ ends the unconstitutional federal cases against President Trump, and is a major victory for the rule of law,” Steven Cheung, Trump Communications Director, said in a statement.
“The American People and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country,” he added.
Trump’s allies also flocked to social media to boast about the latest development, arguing that the charges should have never been brought in the first place.
“MAJOR VICTORY for President Trump and JUSTICE! These fake (and illegal) charges were used to persecute President Trump for being the biggest threat to the Democrat regime. Political prosecution should never happen in America!!” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) wrote on social media platform X.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) quoted tech billionaire Elon Musk by writing: “[T]he Hammer of Justice is coming. May it be swift.”
Vice President-elect JD Vance also weighed in, saying that Trump may have been sent to prison if he did not win the election.
“If Donald J. Trump had lost an election, he may very well have spent the rest of his life in prison. These prosecutions were always political. Now it’s time to ensure what happened to President Trump never happens in this country again,” Vance wrote on X.
And conservative activist Charlie Kirk wrote on X: “The lawfare lost. America won.”
Despite Trump and his allies labeling his multiple legal woes as politically motivated, Trump has vowed retribution against his political opponents. Politico reported earlier this month that some involved in Trump’s legal cases could be among Trump’s targets, including Smith, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, as well as many others.
The move announced in court papers marks the end of the Justice Department’s landmark effort to hold Trump accountable for what prosecutors called a criminal conspiracy to cling to power in the run-up to his supporters’ attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Justice Department prosecutors, citing longstanding department guidance that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted, said the department’s position is that “the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated.”
“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,” the prosecutors wrote in Monday’s court filing.
The decision was expected after Smith’s team began assessing how to wind down both the 2020 election interference case and the separate classified documents case in the wake of Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. The Justice Department believes Trump can no longer be tried in accordance with longstanding policy that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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