Corrupt Special Counsel Jack Smith, the Keystone Cop who has serially failed to throw Donald Trump in prison or undermine his reelection chances, will not wait for incoming President-elect Trump to fire him (as Trump has understandably promised to do). Instead, since a special counsel cannot prosecute a sitting president, Smith will leave the Department of Justice before Trump is sworn in as the 47th president. The (phony) cases against Trump will also be dropped.
Here’s the Fox News report:
Since November 2022, Smith has sought to put Trump in prison using four felony accounts that laughably claim Trump conspired to steal the 2020 presidential election.
Smith also filed 40 felony counts against Trump over the documents the former president held at his Mar-a-Lago home. A judge dismissed that case. Smith had plans to file an appeal to reinstate the charges. That won’t happen now.
I asked my colleague Joel Pollak his thoughts, and he was kind enough to send this:
Trump has faced four criminal cases — two at the federal level, and two at the state level. One federal case, the “documents” case, was dismissed in federal court in Florida in July after Judge Aileen Cannon agreed with the defense that Smith’s appointment as Special Counsel was constitutionally invalid. (Smith is currently appealing her ruling.) The other case, the “January 6th” case, is still pending in the District of Columbia, where Smith had to refile it after Supreme Court rulings on presidential immunity and the relevant law.
As of Wednesday, the Department of Justice is dropping both cases, anticipating that Trump would fire Smith immediately upon taking office, as he has power to do, ending the Special Counsel’s prosecutions.
At the state level, there are two cases — one in New York, and one in Georgia. In New York, Trump is set to be sentenced on November 26th on 34 felony counts of business fraud. It is unclear what his sentence will be, or whether it would be suspended; his conviction is almost certain to be overturned on appeal. As president, he would probably have the power to pardon himself for federal crimes; it is an open constitutional question as to whether he could pardon himself for state crimes. In Georgia, Trump’s prosecution has been delayed until next year, thanks in part to ethical questions over the conduct of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (who won reelection on Tuesday). There are motions by the defense to dismiss the entire case.
Trump also faces civil cases. Two of the more prominent case are both in New York: one is his civil fraud case, and the other is his sexual misconduct case. The fraud case is currently on appeal in New York, and the state’s appellate judges have shown skepticism thus far about the massive fine that New York Attorney General managed to slap on Trump for allegedly inflating his wealth in loan applications. The latter case, involving suddenly-remembered allegations by writer E. Jean Carroll, is also being appealed; Trump was found civilly (not criminally) liable for “sexual abuse” (though not for rape) and also for defamation.
To allow the country to move forward, I’d be fine if Trump agreed to pardon Hunter Biden in exchange for Joe Biden and the governors of these states (where relevant) agreeing to pardon Trump.
Trump’s stunning and historic victory Tuesday night was, at least in part, a rebuke of this obscene and fascist lawfare persecution. This sort of arrangement would get Joe Biden off the hook of pardoning his own son and allow our next president to fulfill his mandate with a clean slate.
The country deserves to move on from this nonsense, which will, in turn, allow our government to focus its time and energy where it belongs — on the American people.
John Nolte’s first and last novel, Borrowed Time, is winning five-star raves from everyday readers. You can read an excerpt here and an in-depth review here. Also available in hardcover and on Kindle and Audiobook.