Judge cancels court dates after Trump's presidential victory in 2020 election case

WASHINGTON — The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case canceled all remaining court dates on Friday, while prosecutors are weighing the “appropriate path forward” in light of the Republican presidential victory.

Special Counsel Jack Smith accused Trump last year of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago mansion. But Smith’s team is considering how to end two federal cases before the president-elect takes office because of the Justice Department’s longstanding policy that sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris means the Justice Department believes he can no longer face prosecution under the department’s legal opinions aimed at protecting presidents from criminal charges while in office.

Trump criticized both lawsuits as politically motivated and said he would fire Smith “within two seconds” of taking office.

At a court hearing Friday in the 2020 election case, Smith’s team asked that the upcoming court dates be canceled, saying it needed “time to evaluate this unprecedented situation and determine the appropriate course forward consistent with Department of Justice policy.”

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan quickly granted the request and ordered prosecutors to file court documents by Dec. 2 that include the “recommended process for this case.”

Trump was scheduled to be tried in Washington in March; where more than 1,000 of his supporters were convicted for their role in the Capitol riot. But his case was halted as Trump pursued sweeping immunity claims that eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

In July, the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution and sent the case back to Chutkan to determine which of the indictment’s allegations can move forward.

The classified documents case has been stalled since July, when Trump-appointed judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case on the grounds that Smith was illegally appointed. Smith appealed to the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where a request to revive the case is pending. Even if Smith tries to drop the lawsuit against Trump, it seems likely that he will continue to challenge Cannon’s decision on the legality of his appointment, given the precedent such a decision would create.

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