Following Donald Trump’s presidential victory early Wednesday morning, those of us who have been following the lawfare involving the former (and now future) president closely began pondering what this might mean for the pending legal matters — particularly those instituted by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
Well, now we know: The Department of Justice has indicated it intends to “wind down” the federal cases against Trump ahead of him taking office.
Justice Department officials have been evaluating how to wind down the two federal criminal cases against President-elect Donald Trump before he takes office to comply with longstanding department policy that a sitting president can’t be prosecuted, two people familiar with the matter tell NBC News.
The latest discussions stand in contrast with the pre-election legal posture of special counsel Jack Smith, who in recent weeks took significant steps in the election interference case against Trump without regard to the electoral calendar.
But the sources say DOJ officials have come to grips with the fact that no trial is possible any time soon in either the Jan. 6 case or the classified documents matter — both of which are mired in legal issues that would likely prompt an appeal all the way to the Supreme Court, even if Trump had lost the election.
Now that Trump will become president again, DOJ officials see no room to pursue either criminal case against him — and no point in continuing to litigate them in the weeks before he takes office, the people said.
“Sensible, inevitable and unfortunate,” said former federal prosecutor Chuck Rosenberg, an NBC News contributor.
Oh.
Oh, in that case, I suppose we’ll move along to something else…
Say, you don’t suppose this lays bare the fact that these were primarily political prosecutions, do you?
Alright, well, that answers that. I guess we won’t be writing tons more about the classified documents and the 2020 election (federal version) cases.
Of course, this leaves us to ponder what will happen with the sentencing in the Manhattan/Alvin Bragg case — you know, the one that branded Trump a “convicted felon” — the Georgia election interference case, the civil fraud appeal (will Arthur Engoron be vindicated or shamed?!), and the E. Jean Carroll appeals. At least we’ll still have those to chew on.
Maybe. Maybe not.
Looks like Trump can add another win (two, really) to his column.
