An appeals court has dismissed charges against Donald Trump related to mishandling classified documents, effectively ending Special Counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of Trump. The charges included allegations that Trump retained national defense information after leaving office and directed the deletion of security video at his Mar-a-Lago resort. The dismissal came after Smith’s office sought to drop the charges on Monday and a U.S. District Judge granted the request. Another case involving Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election was also dismissed.
The dismissal of these cases was expected once Trump was re-elected, as a sitting president cannot be prosecuted according to Justice Department policy. Smith and his team planned to resign before Trump’s inauguration and will file a formal report before stepping down. Two remaining criminal cases against Trump, one in New York involving hush money payments and another in Georgia regarding election interference, are also in limbo. Trump’s attorneys argue for presidential immunity protections in the New York case, where Trump was found guilty of multiple felony counts. The Georgia case has been delayed due to conflict of interest allegations against the district attorney.
Trump continues to argue that the prosecutions were politically motivated and maintains his innocence in both cases. Despite the dismissals, Trump condemned the legal proceedings as unfair and politically driven in a social media post.
Photo credit
www.nbcnews.com
