MSNBC legal analyst Christy Greenberg said Monday that Special Counsel Jack Smith's move to dismiss the case against President-elect Donald Trump leaves open the “possibility” that he will be prosecuted later. He said there was.
Smith wrote on Monday. filing A previous opinion by the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) called for Trump's removal from office ahead of his inauguration “applicable to this situation.” Greenberg read out the filing on “The Chris Jansing Report,” arguing that the special counsel's language suggests that Trump may seek to prosecute him after he takes office. (Related article: Trump's legal problems evaporate as Americans send him back to the White House)
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“In this motion, Jack Smith says that is true: “The Constitution requires removal from office in this context, consistent with the temporary nature of the immunity afforded to a sitting president; “We are not calling for removal for bias,” Greenberg said. This does not preclude such prosecution.'' [resignation] Or impeachment. ” Therefore, potentially he could be indicted in the future. ”
“Whether the statute of limitations will be declared is a big question, because in practice no prosecution can be carried out during this period,” she added. “But the real question for me is when and if a new AG will take office. [attorney general] comes in — what's not clear is whether it's a judge or not. [Tanya] Chancellor Chutkan may indeed rule on this motion immediately, or even if he waits for a new inspector general, he may take a different position and say that the proposal should be rejected with prejudice. That means it's completely over by then. After Prime Minister Chutkan, there is no way to reverse this. His term is over. ”
Greenberg suggested he expected the next attorney general, Trump, to uphold cases that were dismissed with prejudice.
“I think the fact that Jack Smith left the windows open here is interesting,” she added.
Mr. Smith asked Mr. Chutkan to suspend all deadlines in election interference cases so that prosecutors can assess their next steps immediately after Mr. Trump wins the election. He indicted Trump in August 2023 on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election, spent months trying to accelerate the case, and asked a lower court to hear Trump's appeal of presidential immunity. A request was also made to the court.
The case was delayed for months as the Supreme Court considered Trump's appeal, and finally ruled in July that the former president is immune from prosecution for official actions while in office. Smith later filed a superseding indictment accusing Trump of acting outside of his official capacity.
Mr. Chutkan authorized Mr. Smith to file a lengthy motion on the record containing evidence against Mr. Trump weeks before the election. Mr. Trump's lawyers labeled the special counsel's efforts to release the documents as election interference.
“The American people reelected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate to make America great again,” said Stephen Chan, President Trump's communications director. statement. “Today's decision by the Department of Justice ends the unconstitutional federal lawsuit against President Trump and is a major victory for the rule of law. The American people and President Trump must immediately end the political weaponization of our justice system. I look forward to seeing our country come together.”
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