Special counsel Jack Smith and his team plan to resign before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, NBC News reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.
The New York Times was the first to report his planned departure, citing people familiar with Smith’s plans.
It’s the latest sign that federal criminal cases against Trump are coming to an end following his presidential victory. Trump said last month he would fire Smith in “two seconds.” If Smith resigns before Trump takes office, that would be prevented.
Since Trump became president again, it became inevitable that his two federal criminal cases would disappear. The only question is when and how exactly. News of Smith’s plans comes as his team asks U.S. District Judge Tanya Chuktan in the federal election interference case to approve all trial deadlines and give him until December 2 to tell the judge how the government plans to go further. It is less clear how the secret documents case will play out; That is currently under appeal, brought by the government after U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed it.
A lingering question is if and when we’ll see a report on Smith’s investigation. The New York Times reported that Justice Department regulations call for Smith “to submit a report summarizing his investigation and decisions — a document that could serve as the definitive accounting of a prosecutor who brought sweeping charges against a former president , but never got his cases to trial. .”
News of Smith’s dismissal plans also follows the latest delay in Trump’s criminal case in New York state, the only of his four criminal cases to go to trial. He was found guilty at trial but has not yet been sentenced, and the case is currently postponed until next week after Manhattan prosecutors, similar to Smith’s plea to Chutkan, told Judge Juan Merchan they need time to evaluate how they want to proceed.
Trump also still has a pending state criminal case in Georgia, which is also unlikely to be prosecuted against him while he is in office, but like the state case in New York, it is uncertain what that means for the overall fate of the case. Presidents cannot dismiss or forgive matters of state. He pleaded not guilty in all four cases.
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This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
