Trump’s election victory has changed the landscape of all four of the outstanding cases.
WASHINGTON—Experts told The Epoch Times that President-elect Donald Trump’s victory on Nov. 5 spells the end of multiple prosecutions against him and effectively foreclosed the possibility of him serving any related prison sentence.
Trump has already said that he would quickly fire the man in charge of his two federal prosecutions—special counsel Jack Smith—upon entering office.
Retaking the presidency has afforded him protections beyond what the Supreme Court granted him in its presidential immunity ruling this year, according to experts.
Here’s a breakdown of the legal implications and next steps for his four cases in Georgia, Florida, Washington, and New York City.
It’s unclear how exactly the pre-trial process will continue before District of Columbia District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the election interference case brought against Trump by Smith, but it remains all but certain that the case will never reach trial.
“They’ve already moved to dismiss the indictment,“ Heritage Foundation Vice President John Malcolm told The Epoch Times. ”All they would have to do is supplement it on the basis of separation of powers.”
Peter Carr, a spokesman for the special counsel’s office, declined to comment but directed The Epoch Times to a 2000 memo from the Department of Justice (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.”
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, told The Epoch Times that Smith should withdraw the case himself.
“Smith should dismiss the case, and if he doesn’t dismiss, the defense should file a motion to dismiss, which I expect Judge Tanya Chutkan to grant,” Rahmani, who served in former President Barack Obama’s DOJ, told The Epoch Times.
He said Trump could also request to stay all pre-trial proceedings until his presumptive inauguration in January.
In the Florida documents case, Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed Smith’s prosecution of Trump this summer, reasoning that Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional.
