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    DOJ considers dropping charges against Donald Trump: source
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    DOJ considers dropping charges against Donald Trump: source

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    WASHINGTON – Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith is discussing ways to complete the two federal criminal cases against President-elect Donald Trump before he takes office, according to a department official familiar with the matter.

    Pursuing charges against the former president would violate the longstanding policy of prosecuting a sitting president. With two deadlines looming for filing documents in the federal cases, the department's decision to withdraw the charges could come within weeks.

    A Trump spokesman, Steven Cheung, said the decision came after Trump was elected with an overwhelming mandate to unify the country.

    “It is now abundantly clear that Americans want an immediate end to the weaponization of our justice system so that, as President Trump said in his historic speech last night, we can unite our country and work together for the betterment of our nation,” Cheung said .

    Before the Justice Department discussions became public, Trump had suggested he could fire Smith or pardon himself. “It’s so simple — I would fire him in two seconds,” Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Oct. 24.

    Trump has also promised to prosecute his rivals. He has shared social media posts calling for the imprisonment of President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, as well as other top Democrats, for unspecified crimes. While in office, he asked an aide to direct the Justice Department to prosecute Hillary Clinton and former FBI Director James Comey.

    “They should throw deranged Jack Smith and his gangster prosecutors in prison while Garland Meritless and Trump hate Lisa Monaco,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social in July 2023, referring to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “You have completely weaponized the Ministry of Injustice.”

    Trump is facing charges in Washington, DC, that he tried to steal the 2020 election and stop Congress from counting the Electoral College votes on January 6, 2021. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is weighing whether Trump is immune from the allegations under a Supreme Court ruling in July.

    Trump was also impeached over allegations that he improperly retained classified documents after leaving the White House. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the charges on the grounds that Smith was unlawfully appointed, but appealed the decision to the 11th CircuitTh US Court of Appeals.

    Eric Columbus, a lawyer who was involved in the House investigation into the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol and served at the Justice Department during the Obama administration, acknowledged that presidents cannot be prosecuted but said that the charges against Trump could simply be shelved.

    “Of course the Trump Justice Department would dismiss the cases.” Columbus said in a social media post. “But don’t do it for her.”

    Two looming deadlines in these cases could mean Smith's decision will be made within weeks. Smith has a deadline of Nov. 15 to file an argument on Nov. 11Th There is a Nov. 21 deadline for Trump's lawyers to file an argument for his immunity in the election interference case.

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