President-elect Trump's classified documents case was dropped Tuesday, ending a years-long battle over him allegedly retaining documents with classified markings when he left office.
That means Trump is no longer facing charges for violating the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice.
Why was it dropped?: Basically, because Trump won the election. Special counsel Jack Smith requested an appeals court drop the case because of Trump's upcoming inauguration and a Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
And say farewell to the Jan. 6 election interference case: Smith has also moved to dismiss Trump's election interference case related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
There's some frustration with the Justice Department: There's been a lot of finger-pointing from those eager to see Trump held to account, The Hill's Rebecca Beitsch reports. The major multi-year investigations and prosecutions came to an end with just a short, two-page order from a judge.
What's the criticism?: Some question whether the DOJ moved too slowly on the case, which was serious enough to come with potential jailtime.
From Sen.-elect Adam Schiff (D-Calif.): "The Justice Dept and the court system failed to uphold the principle that no one is above the law. DOJ by neglecting to promptly investigate the events of Jan 6, and the courts by willfully delaying progress of the case and providing immunity." Schiff served on the now-disbanded Jan. 6 House committee.
From Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.): "While this outcome might have been avoided if Attorney General Garland had initiated the investigations sooner or if the Supreme Court had not excessively delayed its ruling, the net result of today's actions is that Donald Trump will escape accountability for violations of law alleged in great detail by two grand juries – placing Trump squarely above the law," he said in a statement.
But as Beitsch pointed out: "The DOJ was always up against a clock in investigating Trump. Trump had established a reputation for seeking delay in court cases, and his intention to seek reelection raised the prospect of activity bumping into an election season Trump could win."
Why the cases took so long: It took officials more than a year after Trump left office to secure the missing classified documents. And in the Jan. 6 case, officials were busy unpacking charges for more than 1,000 rioters.
Read more on the low-key end to two major criminal cases: 'End of Trump prosecutions renews scrutiny of DOJ's pace'
What about the other two legal cases?: Trump's New York hush money case is in limbo, and legal experts think the Georgia election interference case could stay frozen while Trump is in the White House. 'Here's where Trump's criminal cases stand'
No comments:
Post a Comment