Secret documents lawsuit against Trump dismissed, ending Jack Smith’s prosecution of him

Charges against Donald Trump over alleged mishandling of classified documents were dismissed by an appeals court on Tuesday. This ends Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump after his office filed a motion in court Monday to dismiss the charges.

Trump is accused of deliberately hiding classified documents containing national defense information after leaving office. In the accusations, which were first filed in June 2023, it was stated that he also directed the deletion of security video at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

On Monday, Smith also asked the court to dismiss the election overturn case against Trump. This was based on Justice Department policy that does not allow prosecution of a sitting president. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted the Special Counsel’s request to dismiss the lawsuit against the president-elect “without prejudice.”

In early July, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the papers lawsuit, saying Smith’s appointment as special counsel was illegal.

After Trump was elected president by defeating Kamala Harris on November 5, the special counsel halted the election interference lawsuit and documents lawsuit against him.

This was done because of the Justice Department’s policy not to indict or prosecute a sitting president.

Notably, these dismissals were expected once Trump was re-elected due to Justice Department policy. Two other cases remain unclear: the New York hush money case and the Georgia election interference case.

Meanwhile, NBC News had previously reported that Smith and his team would likely resign before Trump’s inauguration. He is expected to submit a formal report on the accusations before leaving office.

Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Lawyers for the president-elect argue that the president should be protected from punishment in the case because of his immunity.

Notably, a New York judge postponed the sentencing in this case, which was previously scheduled for November 26.