Jack Smith makes case for Trump prosecution as election draws closer and closer

When the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its controversial 6-3 immunity ruling in Trump v. the United States, some pundits predicted that both of special counsel Jack Smith's federal criminal cases against former President Donald Trump — the election interference case and the Mar-a-Lago documents case — would meet their demise.

Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, dismissed the documents case — although Smith has appealed her decision. And Smith is moving forward with his election case.

This Thursday, September 26, Smith is scheduled to submit a 180-page dossier to Judge Tanya Chutkan, a Barack Obama appointee, laying out his evidence in the election case and explaining why it is compatible with the Trump v. the United States ruling — which said that U.S. presidents enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution for "official" acts but not for "unofficial" acts. And Chutkan is receiving the dossier less than six weeks before the United States' 2024 presidential election, which funds Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in a very close race.

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According to Politico reporters Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein, "Trump's lawyers oppose any disclosure of the evidence that prosecutors have amassed, arguing that it amounts to interference in the final weeks of the campaign. They have repeatedly called for the entire case to be dismissed in light of the Supreme Court's July 1 decision granting broad immunity for official presidential acts. But the very purpose of Smith's brief is to advise Chutkan on how much of the case can proceed in light of the immunity ruling."

Cheney and Gerstein add, "Prosecutors are expected to argue that most of Trump's allegedly criminal acts were in his capacity as a political candidate, not as president — or that any purportedly official acts are not entitled to immunity. Hanging over the entire case is the November 5 election."

If Harris wins, the case can continue in some form, but Smith will still have to abide by the U.S. Supreme Court's immunity ruling.

"If Trump wins," Cheney and Gerstein note, "the case is all but certain to be shut down, because Trump or his next attorney general could fire Smith and order the case to be dismissed. And even if they didn't do that, Justice Department policy bars prosecution of a sitting president. Chutkan, for her part, has emphasized that the political calendar will not affect her handling of the case. And in a procedural order on Tuesday, she chided Trump's lawyers for their claims of election interference."

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Read Politico's full article at this link.