Jack Smith requests to drop the charges against Donald Trump on January 6th

WASHINGTON – Special counsel Jack Smith has filed a motion to drop all four charges against President-elect Donald Trump in connection with his efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential bid in the lead-up to the deadly attack on the US Capitol on January 6.

Trump was first indicted on four felony charges in August 2023: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights. The case was then put on hold for several months as Trump’s team argued that Trump could not be prosecuted.

The indictment marked an extraordinary moment in American history—the first ever accusation that a president illegally sought to cling to power.

The firing also marks a historic moment. Fifty years after Richard Nixon was forced by bipartisan lawmakers to resign as president amid allegations of criminal conduct, half of American voters will return Trump to the presidency despite his own serious allegations of criminal wrongdoing in office.

“The government’s position on the merits of the defendant’s prosecution has not changed. But the circumstances have,” Smith’s office wrote in Monday’s filing, adding that it is seeking to dismiss the charges ahead of Trump’s inauguration, consistent with the Justice Department’s longstanding position that it does not can impeach a sitting president.

“This prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the seriousness of the crimes charged, the strength of the government’s evidence, or the merits of the prosecution, which the government fully supports,” the special counsel added.

The Supreme Court gave Trump an early victory in the case in July with its ruling on presidential immunity. But a new federal grand jury indicted Trump on the same four charges again in August, alleging that Trump’s false claims about mass voter fraud during the 2020 election were “unsupported, objectively unreasonable and ever-changing” and that Trump “knew they were false .”

Trump has never publicly admitted that his election claims were actually false, and he pleaded not guilty in the case.

Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement: “Today’s decision by the DOJ ends the unconstitutional federal cases against President Trump and is a major victory for the rule of law. The American people and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system, and we look forward to uniting our country.”

After Trump’s re-election as president, the special counsel’s office was caught between “two fundamental and compelling national interests,” Smith’s team wrote. “On the one hand, the constitutional requirement that the President not be unreasonably encumbered in the performance of his weighty responsibilities … and on the other, the nation’s commitment to the rule of law and the long-standing principle that “(n)o man in this country is so high that he is above the law.”

Smith and his team plan to step down before Trump takes office, a source told NBC News earlier this month. Special attorney rules require Smith to file a report with the attorney general explaining his charging decisions before he resigns.

Many defendants on Jan. 6 have told judges they regret being “credulous” enough to fall for Trump’s lies, which were echoed by the president-elect’s allies, Republicans in Congress and conservative social media influencers.

The Justice Department is focused on arresting the “most sinister” rioters before Trump returns to office. The president-elect has said he will pardon an unspecified portion of the January 6 rioters, who he calls “warriors,” “unbelievable patriots,” political prisoners and “hostages.”

He is expected to walk through the lower west tunnel, where some of the worst violence on January 6 took place, to be sworn in as president on January 20, 2025.