Special counsel Jack Smith and his team at the Justice Department, who investigated and charged Donald Trump, will resign before the president-elect takes office and possibly make good on a promise to fire him, The New York Times and NBC News reported Wednesday.
Smith and his team had been exploring how to best wind down ongoing investigations against the former president since he won the election, and the Justice Department has long held a policy that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted, including a president himself not. Excuse me.
Trump has consistently criticized Smith, making him a hated figure in the MAGA world and saying he would fire him “within two seconds” of his inauguration.
Smith appears to be ahead of that dismissal by putting an end to the two outstanding federal cases against Trump. He could also issue a full report and file any criminal referrals before Trump takes office.
The Supreme Court threw a spanner in the works in July when it ruled that presidents have immunity for actions taken in an “official” capacity.
This resulted in a federal judge dismissing one of Smith’s cases — a case in which Trump was accused of mishandling classified documents by keeping them at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Smith appealed this ruling and no oral arguments have yet been heard.
The other case involves Trump’s alleged conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election on January 6, 2021. This forced delays and revisions to the indictment, and the deadlines in the case were all pushed back until December. Experts expect the case to be dismissed if Trump comes to power.
