Special Counsel Jack Smith asked the judge to pause all proceedings in President-elect Donald Trump’s election interference case due to his victory over VP Kamala Harris.
“The Government respectfully requests that the Court vacate the remaining deadlines in the pretrial schedule to afford the Government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy,” wrote Smith. “By December 2, 2024, the Government will file a status report or otherwise inform the Court of the result of its deliberations.”
Trump faces charges for allegedly trying to overthrow President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.
The DOJ cannot prosecute a sitting president.
Trump will be inaugurated on January 20, 2025.
Smith and the DOJ already started evaluating how to handle the case against Trump knowing a trial is unlikely before the inauguration.
Smith’s case has hit many roadblocks.
In July, the Supreme Court said “that a former President have some immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts during his tenure in office.”
Smith filed a superseding indictment against Trump in August, trying to narrow the allegations to comply with SCOTUS.
Smith removed the section accusing Trump of trying to leverage the DOJ to go after state officials, which took up five pages. It also means that Smith removed Jeff Clark, coconspirator 4.
The special counsel also took out Trump’s alleged false statements and inserted general language.
The new indictment points out “the political and personal nature” of Trump’s alleged reactions on January 6, 2021.
Smith also described Mike Pence as vice president and Trump’s running mate in the accusation that he tried to pressure Pence not to certify the election.
Other than that Smith didn’t change much.
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