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Pause granted in federal prosecution of President-elect Trump after election

Pabio November 9, 2024

With President-elect Donald Trump expected to take office in January, special counsel Jack Smith filed a motion Friday asking a federal court to grant a pause in the government’s prosecution of Trump for his role in the attack from January 6, 2021 in the United States. Capitol.

Smith said that given Tuesday’s election results, his office “respectfully requests that the Court waive the remaining pretrial calendar deadlines to allow the government time to evaluate this unprecedented circumstance.”

Smith’s request was almost immediately granted after Trump’s lawyers did not oppose the motion.

Trump faced multiple charges, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstructing and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

The case is one of two complaints filed by Smith and the federal government against Trump. The other involved Trump allegedly illegally storing classified documents at his Florida residence after leaving office in 2021.

Trump said he would fire Smith as soon as he took office.

The Justice Department has a long-standing rule that current presidents cannot be indicted, prosecuted or imprisoned in a criminal case while in office.

More recently, the Supreme Court ruled that presidents cannot be prosecuted for crimes involving official acts. The Supreme Court’s decision forced the stay of several cases against Trump while prosecutors determine whether any of Trump’s alleged crimes were official acts.

This particular case was scheduled to go to trial in February, but Justice Tanya Chutkan wanted to wait for the Supreme Court’s decision before proceeding with the trial. The Supreme Court’s decision only came down on July 1.

Smith’s announcement has no impact on Trump’s trial in New York, where he was convicted over the summer of falsifying business records. Trump was expected to be sentenced later this month, but it is unclear whether that conviction will be handed down given Tuesday’s election results.