Special counsel Jack Smith is prosecuting a federal election case against Trump and appealing the Florida documents case that was dismissed.
WASHINGTON—Special counsel Jack Smith’s office said the Department of Justice (DOJ) has a longstanding policy not to prosecute a sitting president, in response to a query about whether it will drop its criminal cases against President-elect Donald Trump, who won the 2024 election.
Peter Carr, a spokesman for the special counsel’s office, declined to comment on whether the office will drop its cases but directed The Epoch Times to a 2000 memo from the DOJ Office of Legal Counsel. It states that “indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting President would unconstitutionally undermine the capacity of the executive branch to perform its constitutionally assigned functions.”
Multiple Republicans called on the DOJ and local district attorneys to end their prosecutions of Trump after he won the presidential election on Nov. 5.
“The American people have spoken: the lawfare must end,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) wrote in a post on social media platform X. “I call on Attorney General Garland, [Manhattan District Attorney] Alvin Bragg, and [Fulton County District Attorney] Fani Willis to immediately terminate the politically motivated prosecutions of President Donald Trump.”
On Nov. 6, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) wrote on X that special counsel Jack Smith should “look forward to a new chapter” in his legal career.
“The Supreme Court substantially rejected what you were trying to do, and after tonight, it’s clear the American people are tired of lawfare. Bring these cases to an end,” Graham wrote.
Former Attorney General Bill Barr, who served under Trump, told Fox News that prosecutors should “do the right” thing and end their cases against the president-elect.
“Further maneuvering on these cases in the weeks ahead would serve no legitimate purpose and only distract the country and the incoming administration from the task at hand,” Barr said. “The public interest now demands that the country unite and focus on the challenges we face at home and abroad. Attorney General Garland and all the state prosecutors should do the right thing and help the country move forward by dismissing the cases.”
By Jack Phillips and Sam Dorman
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