Over the weekend, a federal appeals court paused proceedings in the case involving President-elect Donald Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents.
It's part of a flurry of filings and rulings as prosecutors and judges adjust to the legal reality that Trump will soon be president — and that when he takes office he may be effectively outside the reach of federal and even state prosecutors.
Special Counsel Jack Smith had been trying to get the Atlanta-based Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate the case, which District Court Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed on the theory that Smith's appointment was not legally valid.
It's a legal argument that had been tried unsuccessfully by other defendants prosecuted by special counsels, including presidential son Hunter Biden.
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Following the election, Smith's team filed court papers asking for delays in the appeal case as well as in federal court in Washington, D.C. where Trump faces charges related to the attempt to prevent the certification of the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden.
The U.S. Department of Justice has a longstanding policy not to prosecute presidents while they are in office. In filings, Smith said his office needs an "abeyance" and time to assess what the "unprecedented circumstance" of Trump's election means.
That doesn't necessarily mean any of the cases will be dropped, according to Georgetown Law professor Michele Bratcher Goodwin.
"It's not a request for dismissal. Instead, this abeyance is just simply meant to be a pause, and perhaps this pause will be until at which time the former president is no longer in office - former president, president-elect - or may mean that there's a need for greater clarification, because we are in a highly unusual situation that faces our country right now," she said.
Legally the cases could be dismissed, dismissed without prejudice -- meaning they could be brought again in the future -- or even placed on hold until the end of Trump's next term.
Meanwhile, a pause is also in place on Trump's previously scheduled sentencing on New York state felony charges for which he was convicted in connection to hush money payments made to an adult film actress during the 2016 election cycle.
Manhattan's elected district attorney is expected to file court papers Tuesday outlining his proposed steps forward in the case there.
