Judge tosses Trump 2020 election case after prosecutors' request

Former U.S. president Donald Trump speaks during a commit to caucus rally, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023, in Coralville, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

A U.S. judge on Monday dismissed the federal criminal case accusing Donald Trump of attempting to overturn his 2020 election defeat after prosecutors moved to drop that prosecution and a second case against the president-elect, citing Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting U.S. president.

The order from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan puts an end to the federal effort to hold Trump criminally responsible for his attempts to hold onto power after losing the 2020 election, culminating in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his supporters.

The move came after Special Counsel Jack Smith, the lead prosecutor overseeing both cases, moved to dismiss the election case and end his attempt to revive a separate case accusing Trump of illegally retaining classified documents when he left office in 2021 after his first term as president.

It represents a big legal victory for the Republican president-elect, who won the Nov. 5 U.S. election and is set to return to office on Jan. 20.

The Justice Department policy that the prosecutors cited dates back to the 1970s. It holds that a criminal prosecution of a sitting president would violate the U.S. Constitution by undermining the ability of the country's chief executive to function. Courts will still have to approve both requests from prosecutors.

The prosecutors in a filing in the election subversion case said the department's policy requires the case to be dismissed before Trump returns to the White House.

"This outcome is not based on the merits or strength of the case against the defendant," prosecutors wrote in the filing.

Prosecutors in the documents case signaled they will still ask a federal appeals court to bring back the case against two Trump associates who had been accused of obstructing that investigation.

Trump spokesman Steven Cheung hailed what he called "a major victory for the rule of law."

Trump had faced criminal charges in four cases - the two brought by Smith and two in state courts in New York and Georgia. He was convicted in the New York case while the Georgia case, which also relates to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, is in limbo.

In a post on social media, Trump railed on Monday against the legal cases as a "low point in the History of our Country."

The moves by Smith, who was appointed in 2022 by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, represents a remarkable shift from the special prosecutor who obtained indictments against Trump in two separate cases accusing him of crimes that threatened U.S. election integrity and national security. Prosecutors acknowledged that the election of a president who faced ongoing criminal cases created an unprecedented predicament for the Justice Department.

Chutkan left open the possibility that prosecutors could seek to charge Trump again after he leaves office, but prosecutors would likely face challenges bringing a case so long after conduct involved in the case happened.

Trump pleaded not guilty in August 2023 to four federal charges accusing him of conspiring to obstruct the collection and certification of votes following his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump, who as president will again oversee the Justice Department, was expected to order an end to the federal 2020 election case and to Smith's appeal in the documents case.

Florida-based Judge Aileen Cannon, who Trump appointed to the federal bench, had dismissed the classified documents case in July, ruling that Smith was improperly appointed to his role as special counsel.

Smith's office had been appealing that ruling and indicated on Monday that the appeal would continue as it relates to Trump personal aide Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, a manager at his Mar-a-Lago resort, who had been previously charged alongside Trump in the case. Both Nauta and De Oliveria have pleaded not guilty, as did Trump.

In the 2020 election case, Trump's lawyers had previously said they would seek to dismiss the charges based on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in July that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution over official actions taken while in the White House.

Trump denied wrongdoing in all cases and argued that the U.S. legal system had been turned against him to damage his presidential campaign. He vowed during the campaign that he would fire Smith if he returned to the presidency.

Trump in May became the first former president to be convicted of a crime when a jury in New York found him guilty of felony charges relating to hush money paid to a porn star before the 2016 election. His sentencing in that case has been indefinitely postponed.

The criminal case against Trump in Georgia state court involving the 2020 election is stalled.

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward. Additional reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Scott Malone, Jonathan Oatis, Will Dunham and Bill Berkrot)