WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith asked a court Wednesday to pause prosecutors’ appeal to revive the classified documents case against President-elect Donald Trump in light of the Republican’s presidential victory.
Smith’s team has been evaluating how to wrap up the classified documents and federal election interference case in Washington in 2020 before Trump takes office, due to the Justice Department’s long-standing policy that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.
The case in which Trump was accused of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate was seen as the most legally clear of the four charges against Trump, given the breadth of evidence prosecutors say they have collected. That included the testimony of close aides and former lawyers, and because the conduct in question occurred after Trump left the White House in 2021 and lost the powers of the presidency.
But U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case in July, ruling that Smith had been illegally appointed by the Justice Department. Smith had appealed her ruling to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals before Trump became president last week over Vice President Kamala Harris.
Prosecutors asked the 11th Circuit in a court filing on Wednesday to pause the appeal to “give the government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course of action moving forward, consistent with the Department’s policies of Justice.” Smith’s team said it would “inform the Court of the outcome of its deliberations by December 2.”
The judge overseeing the federal case in Washington accusing Trump of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election canceled all upcoming deadlines in the case last week after Smith’s team filed a similar request.
Smith is expected to leave his post before Trump takes office, but special counsels are expected to prepare reports on their work that have historically been made public, and it remains unclear when such a document could be released.
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Associated Press reporter Eric Tucker contributed from Washington.
