A federal judge dismissed the election subversion indictment against President-elect Donald Trump, confirming what many suspected would be the outcome of Trump’s criminal cases if he won the 2024 election.
Special counsel Jack Smith filed a motion Monday to dismiss the case, citing the longstanding policy of the Department of Justice against prosecuting sitting presidents. U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan granted the motion and dismissed the case.
Trump’s 2024 victory immediately raised questions of what would happen to the indictments against him before his inauguration. For legal experts, the answer was simple. “The writing’s on the wall,” Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and attorney, recently told Democracy Docket. “It’s done.” Read more about what Rahmani and others had to say about Trump’s Georgia and New York cases.
Chutkan dismissed the case without prejudice, leaving open the possibility that the case could be filed again. Chutkan even wrote in her opinion that the immunity granted to Trump from the U.S. Supreme Court, which in July ruled that former presidents have at least presumptive immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts, is “temporary, expiring when they leave office.” Read more on the immunity decision here.
As his inauguration approaches, Trump has been building his cabinet with some controversial picks. After Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration as attorney general, Trump chose another Floridian for the post: attorney Pam Bondi. Read more about Bondi and her role in spreading the “Big Lie” in 2020.
