Special counsel Jack Smith has asked judges to dismiss a federal election interference case and a classified documents case against Donald Trump as he is set to become the next US president.
In new documents filed on Monday, Smith told the judges the cases should be closed because of a Justice Department policy that bans the prosecution of a sitting president.
Trump had pleaded not guilty in both cases.
One is related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden, and the other is related to his handling of sensitive files once he left the White House.
“It has long been the position of the Department of Justice that the United States Constitution forbids the federal indictment and subsequent criminal prosecution of a sitting President,” Smith wrote in a filing in the election case.
“This outcome is not based on the merits or strength of the case against the defendant,” Smith added in the six-page filing.
A judge must sign off on both cases for them to be officially dismissed.
In a statement, Trump’s team said the move to end the cases was “a major victory for the rule of law”.
“The American People re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate to Make America Great Again,” said Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung. “The American People and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith in 2022 to take over the two federal investigations into Trump’s conduct.
The request to dismiss Trump’s election subversion case marks an end to a lengthy legal saga after Smith had to refile charges against the president based on a July Supreme Court ruling that Trump was immune from prosecution over "official acts" that took place while he was in the White House.
Smith had argued in a revised indictment that Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results were related to his campaign and therefore not official acts.
When Trump won the 2024 election this month, Smith began to take steps to wind down both the election interference case and the classified documents case, in which Trump was accused of storing sensitive files in his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort and obstructing government efforts to retrieve them.
Trump had pledged to get rid of Smith as soon as he takes office. Smith has reportedly said he plans to step down next year.
Trump’s return to the White House left several of the criminal cases against him in limbo.
His sentencing for his criminal conviction in the state of New York has been indefinitely delayed.
Trump also faces state charges in Georgia for his attempts to overturn election results there, but that case faces delays as well. An appeals court is considering whether to overturn a previous ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to stay on the case despite a relationship she had with a prosecutor she hired.
Since Trump won the 2024 presidency, “his criminal problems go away”, said former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani.
“It’s well established that a sitting president can’t be prosecuted,” he said.