WASHINGTON - Special Prosecutor Jack Smith has filed to drop all felony charges against President-elect Donald Trump in the federal election interference case.
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.
In court papers. prosecutors said the Justice Department's position "is that the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated."
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.
Smith charges Trump
Smith charged Trump last year with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Prosecutors alleged Trump and his allies knowingly pushed election fraud lies to pressure state officials to overturn Biden's win, worked to enlist slates of fake electors in battleground states and pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, to disrupt the ceremonial counting of electoral votes.
Prosecutors also said Trump and his allies also sought to exploit the pro-Trump mob's attack on the Capitol by trying to convince members of Congress to further delay the certification of Biden’s victory.
What did Trump say about the charge
Trump has said he did nothing wrong and has characterized the case as an attempt to hurt his 2024 campaign.
His lawyers had argued the case should be dismissed because Trump is immune from prosecution for actions they say were taken in his official role as president.
The defense also argued Trump was within his First Amendment rights to challenge the outcome of the election and to allege that it had been tainted by fraud. Courts across the country and Trump's own attorney general found there was no widespread fraud that would have changed the results of the election.
How Trump's win affected the case
Trump had said that he would fire Smith if he were elected president "within two seconds" of taking office.
Trump’s election defeat of Kamala Harris meant that the Justice Department believes he can no longer face prosecution in accordance with department legal opinions meant to shield presidents from criminal charges while in office.