Special counsel Jack Smith moved on Monday to dismiss his case against President-elect Donald Trump.
Smith wrote in a filing that prior opinions by the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) “apply to this situation” and mean the case must be dismissed before Trump’s inauguration.
“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,” Smith wrote. “But the Department and the country have never faced the circumstance here, where a federal indictment against a private citizen has been returned by a grand jury and a criminal prosecution is already underway when the defendant is elected President.”
Smith noted the prohibition on prosecuting presidents 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.”
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