Judge Chutkan Dismisses Federal Election Charges Against Trump

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan dismissed federal election charges this week against President-elect Donald Trump after special counsel Jack Smith filed a motion to drop the case.

Chutkan ordered the case be dismissed without prejudice and explained that “when a prosecutor moves to dismiss an indictment without prejudice, ‘there is a strong presumption in favor’ of that course.”

“Dismissal without prejudice is also consistent with the Government’s understanding that the immunity afforded to a sitting President is temporary, expiring when they leave office,” she added.

Smith had charged Trump with four felonies related to the 2020 election, specifically on Trump’s actions after the election and before Congress certified the results on January 7, 2021. In August last year, Trump was indicted on charges of 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.

Trump celebrated the case being brought to close, saying on social media that Democrats wasted taxpayer money to fund their attacks on Trump.

“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,” he said. “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,” Trump continued, later adding: “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!”

Chutkan dismissed the case after Smith filed a motion to dismiss the case because “it has long been the position of the Department of Justice that the United States Constitution forbids the federal indictment and subsequent criminal prosecution of a sitting President.”