US special counsel files to drop Trump’s 2020 election interference case

US special counsel Jack Smith has requested a judge to dismiss the federal case accusing President-elect Donald Trump of attempting to overturn the 2020 election results, News.az reports citing Al Jazeera.

In a court filing on Monday, US prosecutors cited Trump’s return to the White House in January after his successful 2024 re-election campaign and a longstanding Justice Department policy not to prosecute sitting presidents.

“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,” the filing reads.

It said the Justice Department had reasoned that Trump’s “prosecution must be dismissed” before his inauguration on January 20 of next year.

“That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind,” the prosecutors wrote.

News.Az