Special counsel Jack Smith has 75 days to determine how to unwind his unprecedented efforts to put former and future President Donald Trump in prison, Politico reports, in an in-depth piece that looks at Smith’s possible strategies, which include withdrawing the charges himself; resignation, which would allow the current DOJ leaders to shutter the charges; and pursuit of the charges for the next two and half months, to force Trump to pull the plug – and to perhaps allow the release of more evidence. Smith’s hard deadline is Jan. 20, 2025, when Trump takes the oath of office.
What is clear is that the cases he spent two years building will not succeed. As Politico reporters Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report, “Smith’s two cases against Trump — one for conspiring to overturn the 2020 election; the other for hoarding classified documents and obstructing justice — were doomed the moment the 2024 race was called. That’s because longstanding Justice Department policy forbids prosecuting a sitting president, and even if it didn’t, there was never any doubt that Trump’s attorney general would drop the charges. Trump, for his part, has promised to fire Smith ‘within two seconds’ of taking office. So the secretive prosecutor, who has been building both cases since November 2022, must now decide what kind of exit to make.” Smith also may need to protect himself legally, since Trump has repeatedly accused Smith of criminality. “Dear Jack Smith: Lawyer up,” said Mike Davis, a bomb-throwing Trump ally considered to be in the mix to be a top legal adviser in the incoming administration.
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