'Voluntary dismissal': DOJ officially drops charges against 2 Trump co-defendants in classified docs case

29 January

After Donald Trump narrowly won the United States' 2024 presidential election, then-special counsel Jack Smith announced that he would no longer pursue his two federal cases against him.

Smith, citing the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) longstanding policy against prosecuting a sitting president, asked Judge Tanya Chutkan to dismiss his election interference prosecution — which she did "without prejudice." And Smith said he would no longer appeal Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon's dismissal of his classified documents case.

Smith resigned as special counsel near the end of Joe Biden's presidency, and he was gone from the DOJ by the time President Trump was sworn in on January 20.

Trump had two co-defendants in the classified documents case: Walt Nauta, a valet for Trump, and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira. And on Wednesday, January 29, according to the Associated Press, DOJ prosecutors told the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the appeal of the dismissal had been withdrawn — which officially ends the charges against Nauta and De Oliveira.

DOJ prosecutors wrote, "The United States of America moves to voluntarily dismiss its appeal with prejudice. The government has conferred with counsel for Appellees Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, who do not object to the voluntary dismissal."

Before January 29, AP reporter Eric Tucker notes, the DOJ's "appeal of the dismissal of charges against Nauta and De Olivera remained pending."

Tucker explains, "The Justice Department had previously committed to not making public Smith's report on the classified documents investigation as long as proceedings remained ongoing against Nauta and De Oliveira. But the Trump Administration Justice Department is widely expected to keep the report permanently under wraps."

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