On Monday, American judge Tanya Chutkan dismissed a federal criminal case against Donald Trump on charges of attempting to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election, after prosecutors requested the dismissal of this and a second case against the elected president, citing the Justice Department's policy prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting president.
The district judge's ruling ended federal efforts to hold Trump criminally accountable for his attempts to retain power after his defeat in the 2020 election, culminating in an attack by his supporters on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
This followed lead prosecutor Jack Smith's decision to dismiss the election case and halt attempts to revive a separate case accusing Trump of illegally retaining classified documents when he left office in 2021 after his first term as president.
As Reuters writes, the Justice Department's policy cited by prosecutors was adopted back in the 1970s. According to it, prosecuting a sitting president violates the US Constitution as it undermines the head of state's ability to perform their duties. "This outcome is not based on the substance or strength of the case against the defendant," prosecutors wrote in the statement.
Trump's spokesperson Steven Chung called this decision "a major victory for the rule of law." Smith's statement, submitted to Judge Chutkan in the Federal District Court of Washington, effectively ended the Justice Department's years-long efforts to hold Trump accountable for his attempts to stay in power after his defeat by Joe Biden in 2020.
Chutkan left open the possibility of bringing new charges against Trump after he leaves office, but prosecutors are likely to face difficulties in bringing the case due to statutes of limitations.
As The New York Times writes, Donald Trump remains a defendant in a separate case initiated by the district attorney of Fulton County (Hawaii), accusing him of seeking to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election. This case has become entangled in legal disputes, and its further prospects are unclear.
Trump is also set to be sentenced in Manhattan on state charges of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal, but this proceeding has been postponed, and the prosecutor has indicated a willingness to freeze the case for four years while Trump is in office.
Photo: Reuters