WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – President-elect Donald Trump is declaring a legal victory.
The Department of Justice is dropping its criminal case connecting the former president to the January 6th riot at the Capitol.
Special Counsel Jack Smith, the attorney who was leading this case, filed a motion to drop all charges Monday afternoon.
On Truth Social Trump wrote, “the cases were forced, empty and lawless, and should never have been brought’.
In the motion filed Monday, Special Counsel Jack Smith cites long-standing department policy that bars sitting presidents from criminal prosecution.
He writes, “as a result this prosecution must be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated.”
Smith’s motion is the final nail in the coffin for Trump’s January 6th case which was delayed for months after the Supreme Court ruled presidents had legal immunity for official acts.
Trump was indicted in August 2023 on four felony counts for his alleged role in trying to interfere with the 2020 election.
The DOJ is also abandoning felony charges alleging Trump unlawfully took and refused to return classified documents after he left the White House.
Photos showed documents stored throughout Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
Team Trump is elated.
In a statement Trump’s spokesperson says, “the DOJ’s decision ends the unconstitutional federal cases against President Trump.”
In a tweet Vice President-elect JD Vance said the prosecutions were political and quote, “if Donald J. Trump had lost an election, he may very way well have spent the rest of his life in prison.”
The DOJ emphasized that their actions do not vindicate Trump.
In his motion, Special Counsel Smith writes the government stands fully behind the proof and merits of the case.