Special counsel asks judge to dismiss 2020 election interference case against Trump

WASHINGTON — Special counsel Jack Smith asks a federal judge to dismiss the case accusing US President-elect Donald Trump of plotting to overturn the 2020 election, citing longstanding Justice Department policy shielding presidents from prosecution while in office.

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 US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Justice Department prosecutors, citing longstanding department guidance that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted, say 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 write in the 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.

Trump has cast both cases as politically motivated, and had vowed to fire Smith as soon as he takes office in January.