President-elect Donald Trump responded to special counsel Jack Smith’s decision Monday to move to dismiss the federal cases brought against the Republican.
Trump said the charges should have never been brought in the first place.
Smith filed a motion in a Washington, D.C., federal court to dismiss all four felony charges against Trump related to alleged interference in the 2020 election.
His office did the same at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the alleged mishandling of sensitive documents case originally brought against Trump in Florida.
Special Counsel Jack Smith has asked the 11th Circuit to dismiss his appeal of Judge Cannon’s order dismissing the Florida documents case.
This motion applies as to defendant Trump only, NOT his two co-defendants. pic.twitter.com/ABrEoFm738
— DW Fan (@daily_wire_fan) November 25, 2024
“These cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought,” Trump wrote in a post on X.
“Over $100 Million Dollars of Taxpayer Dollars has been wasted in the Democrat Party’s fight against their Political Opponent, ME. Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before,” he added.
These cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought. Over $100 Million Dollars of Taxpayer Dollars has been wasted in the Democrat Party’s fight against their Political Opponent, ME. Nothing like…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 25, 2024
Smith wrote in his motion to dismiss the election interference case, “The Government’s position on the merits of the defendant’s prosecution has not changed. But the circumstances have: as a result of the election held on November 5, 2024, the defendant will be certified as President-elect on January 6, 2025, and inaugurated on January 20, 2025.
“This sets at odds two fundamental and compelling national interests: on the one hand, the Constitution’s requirement that the President must not be unduly encumbered in fulfilling his weighty responsibilities … and on the other hand, the Nation’s commitment to the rule of law and the longstanding principle that ‘[n]o man in this country is so high that he is above the law,’” the document continued.
Smith’s office explained that in light of the long-held position of the Justice Department that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted, the charges must be dropped.
Trump also took aim at the state and local cases he’s still contending with in Georgia and New York.
The Democrats “have also used State Prosecutors and District Attorneys, such as Fani Willis and her lover, Nathan Wade (who had absolutely zero experience in cases such as this, but was paid MILLIONS, enough for them to take numerous trips and cruises around the globe!), Letitia James, who inappropriately, unethically, and probably illegally, campaigned on “GETTING TRUMP” in order to win Political Office,” he wrote.
“[A]nd Alvin Bragg,” Trump continued, “who himself never wanted to bring this case against me, but was forced to do so by the Justice Department and the Democrat Party. It was a political hijacking, and a low point in the History of our Country that such a thing could have happened, and yet, I persevered, against all odds, and WON. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Willis’s 2020 Georgia election interference case is currently at the state Court of Appeals, where Trump and his co-defendants are seeking to disqualify Willis from the case. But the court issued an order Nov. 18, saying oral arguments were postponed until further notice.
On Friday, New York Judge Juan Merchan removed the sentencing hearing from the court calendar in Trump’s business records case by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and is allowing the president-elect’s attorneys to file a motion to dismiss it.
The Associated Press reported in September that some of the judges on a New York appeals court looked receptive to reversing or reducing the $454 million fine levied in James’s civil fraud suit against Trump and the Trump Organization.
In February, New York Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that the Trump Organization had misled banks about the values of their real estate holdings to secure better loan terms.
Trump’s legal team countered that banks are sophisticated institutions that certainly make their own assessments. Further, all the loans were paid back on time, in full, so even if what the judge said was true, there were no injured parties.
Further, bank executives testified at trial they would do business with the Trump Organization again.