Report: Smith Is Looking at Winding Down Trump Cases

Special counsel Jack Smith is evaluating how to wind down the two federal cases against Donald Trump before he takes office in light of longstanding Justice Department protocol that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted, the AP reports, citing "a person familiar with the matter" who spoke on condition of anonymity.

• Smith charged Trump last year with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election and illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago extent. But given Trump's election defeat of Kamala Harris, the Justice Department believes he can no longer face prosecution in accordance with decades-old department legal opinions meant to shield presidents from criminal charges while in office.

• By moving to end the cases before the inauguration in January, Smith and the Justice Department would avert a potential showdown with Trump. The president-elect said as recently as last month that he would fire Smith, who was appointed in November 2022 by Attorney General Merrick Garland, "within two seconds" of taking office.
• Sources tell NBC News that Justice Department officials believe there is no chance of either case going to trial before Trump takes office and there is little point in continuing to litigate them in the weeks ahead.

• The classified documents case has been stalled since July when a Trump-appointed judge, Aileen Cannon, dismissed it on the grounds that Smith was illegally appointed. Smith has appealed to the Atlanta-based 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals, where the request is pending.
• In the 2020 election interference case, Trump was scheduled to stand trial in March in Washington, where more than 1,000 of his supporters have been convicted of charges for their roles in the Capitol riot. But the case was halted as Trump pursued his sweeping claims of immunity from prosecution that ultimately landed before the US Supreme Court.

(More Jack Smith stories.)