Federal Judge of the District of Columbia Tanya Chutkan closed the case against the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, on Monday.for electoral interference and the 2021 assault on the Capitol after being asked to do so by the special prosecutor, Jack Smith, however, he left open the possibility of reopening once the Republican concludes his term.
In this way, the judge accepted the request presented by Smith, who argued that Trump won the elections on November 5 and that Justice Department regulations prevent it from prosecuting a sitting president.
This policy of not prosecuting a sitting president was born in 1973, in the midst of the Watergate scandal, but the case of Trump, elected president after being criminally prosecuted, is unprecedented.
In Smith’s request, he assured that since Trump will assume power starting in January, “This prohibition is categorical and does not depend on the seriousness of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s evidence or the merits of the accusation. , which the Government fully supports”, that is, the innocence of the now elected president was never established.
Chutkan, in his judicial brief, confirmed that the prosecution asked to dismiss the case and that Trump’s defense does not oppose this, so he decided to close the case.
The government’s position on “The accusation against the defendant has not changed,” Smith stressed in the presentation before the judge. “But the circumstances, yes,” he added.
“It has long been the position of the Department of Justice that the United States Constitution prohibits the federal indictment and subsequent criminal prosecution of a sitting president,” the prosecutor explained.
Smith had already reviewed the accusation in the election interference case in the summer, after the Supreme Court decided to grant US presidents broad immunity for official acts.
However, since the process was carried out at the federal level, Trump likely would have stopped it after taking office. It is initially unclear whether the process will resume after his second term, but experts consider it possible that the Republican could pardon himself once in power.
Even, There is a judicial debate about the possibility that a president can pardon himself.
This is a very controversial issue among jurists, since it has never been attempted, however, there is nothing in the Constitution that explicitly prohibits a president from pardoning himself, nor that prevents him from temporarily resigning so that his vice president can pardon him while he is in office. acting president.
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