"The Government has moved to dismiss the Superseding Indictment without prejudice," Chutkan wrote, stating that the "Defendant does not oppose the Motion" and "the court will grant it."
On Monday evening, Judge Tanya Chutkan granted special counsel Jack Smith’s motion to dismiss the January 6 case against Trump.
"The Government has moved to dismiss the Superseding Indictment without prejudice," Chutkan wrote, stating that the "Defendant does not oppose the Motion" and "the court will grant it."
Chutkan later added, "Dismissal without prejudice is appropriate here. When a prosecutor moves to dismiss an indictment without prejudice, 'there is a strong presumption in favor' of that course. A court may override the presumption only when dismissal without prejudice 'would result in harassment of the defendant or would otherwise be contrary to the manifest public interest.' As already noted, there is no indication of prosecutorial harassment or other impropriety underlying the Motion, and therefore no basis for overriding the presumption—and Defendant does not ask the court to do so."
Smith wrote in his Monday filing, "As a result of the election held on November 5, 2024, the defendant, Donald J. Trump, will be inaugurated as President on January 20, 2025. It has long been the position of the Department of Justice that the United States Constitution forbids the federal indictment and subsequent criminal prosecution of a sitting President."
"But the Department and the country have never faced the circumstance here, where a federal indictment against a private citizen has been returned by a grand jury and a criminal prosecution is already underway when the defendant is elected President."
Smith wrote that "after careful consideration, the Department has determined that" the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel’s "prior opinions concerning the Constitution’s prohibition on federal indictment and prosecution of a sitting President apply to this situation and that as a result this prosecution must be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated."
The case had been in limbo over the summer as the Supreme Court weighed presidential immunity arguments brought forth by Trump's team. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled that presidents have immunity for official actions, but not for unofficial ones and handed the case back down to Chutkan for further proceedings. Smith filed a superseding indictment in the case against Trump in August which "was presented to a new grand jury that had not previously heard evidence in this case" and "reflects the Government’s efforts to respect and implement the Supreme Court’s holdings and remand instructions in Trump v. United States."
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