Donald Trump reacts to Jack Smith’s move to dismiss felony cases

President-elect Donald Trump responded Monday to special counsel Jack Smith’s move to dismiss the two felony charges against him.

“These cases, like all the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless and should never have been filed,” he wrote on his social media platform.

“It was a political hijacking and a low point in our country’s history that such a thing could have happened, and yet I persevered, against all odds, and WON. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump added.

Vice President-elect JD Vance said Trump could have “spent the rest of his life in prison” if the outcome of the 2024 race had been different.

“If Donald J. Trump had lost an election, he may well have spent the rest of his life in prison,” Vance wrote on X. “These prosecutions were always political. Now is the time to ensure that, what happened to President Trump will never happen in this country again.”

In back-to-back lawsuits, Smith cited the Justice Department’s “categorical” policy, which he said precludes prosecution of a sitting president, as the reason for his request to drop the federal election interference case and the classified documents case.

Trump pleaded not guilty to four charges, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, brought by Smith in connection with Trump’s alleged attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden. The case was plagued by delays and developments, including a Supreme Court ruling that a president is entitled to some immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts while in office.

Trump also pleaded not guilty to the 40 criminal counts related to his handling of classified material after leaving the White House. The case was dismissed by a federal judge in Florida in July, although Smith had appealed the decision.

During his presidential campaign, Trump told his supporters that he was their “retaliation” and that he was being “indicted for you.”

Steven Cheung, the incoming White House communications director, called Smith’s decision a “huge victory for the rule of law” and said Americans want Trump to stop the “weaponization of our justice system.”

Some of Trump’s allies on Capitol Hill also celebrated the development.

“BIG VICTORY for President Trump and JUSTICE!” Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on X. “These bogus (and illegal) charges were used to persecute President Trump for being the greatest threat to the Democratic regime. Political prosecution should never happen in America!!”

However, Democratic Representative Adam Schiff said the Justice Department and the courts “failed to uphold the principle that no one is above the law.”

Schiff was a member of the January 6 House Committee that spent more than a year investigating the Capitol attack. The panel, which voted to recommend charges against Trump, identified Trump and his actions after the 2020 election as the “central cause” of what happened on January 6, 2021.

“The DOJ is neglecting to promptly investigate the events of January 6 and the courts are deliberately delaying the progress of the case and granting immunity,” Schiff wrote on X. “The public deserved better.”

This is a development story. Please check back for updates.