The list of President-elect Donald Trump's legal cases is shrinking — or being delayed.
On Monday, Special Counsel Jack Smith filed a motion to dismiss the Washington, D.C. election subversion case. He also asked a federal appeals court to stop reviewing the classified documents case in Florida.
On Tuesday, that court granted dismissal of the case against Trump — though not against other appellees.
In dismissing the cases, the Special Counsel cited the Department of Justice's long-standing policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents.
"After careful consideration, the Department has determined that OLC's prior opinions concerning the Constitution's prohibition on federal indictment and prosecution of a sitting President apply to this situation and that as a result this prosecution must be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated," Smith wrote in his court filing regarding the election subversion case.
"We've used the word unprecedented a lot over the course of the last four years, and yet again this is something that is unprecedented, and Smith himself said this in his motion," former state and federal prosecutor David S. Weinstein told Scripps News. "He took great detail to point out that this was not based on the strength or weakness of the case."
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said in part "These cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless."
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Earlier this year, Trump faced four on-going criminal cases. He was convicted in his New York hush money case in May, but sentencing — which was scheduled for this week — has been delayed.
After Smith's actions Monday, Trump now faces only the Georgia election interference case.
In Georgia, Trump was indicted along with 18 allies, accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.
But that case is now on hold after the state appeals court unexpectedly removed a December hearing from its calendar.
That court will issue a new order on how this case will move forward, but with less than two months before the inauguration, the future of the Georgia and New York hush money cases are still being decided.
"The two state cases are likely to recede into the background — at best," former Department of Justice attorney and current partner at Gelber, Schachter & Greenberg, Barbara Llanes, told Scripps News. "We probably won't hear much about these cases following the inauguration of President-elect Trump."
Defense attorneys for Trump believe his election victory is enough for the hush money case to be dismissed. They need to file a motion by Dec. 2 making that argument.
Then prosecutors have until Dec. 9 to file a rebuttal. They still believe Trump should be sentenced — even if it's after he leaves office.
Judge Juan Merchan will then make a decision on how this case should move forward. There's no set date on exactly when he will make that decision.
