With President-elect Donald Trump set to take office in January, special counsel Jack Smith filed a motion on Friday requesting a federal court to grant a pause on the government's prosecution of Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Smith said that given the results of Tuesday's election, his office "respectfully requests that the Court vacate the remaining deadlines in the pretrial schedule to afford the Government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance."
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Smith's request was almost immediately granted after Trump's attorneys did not object to the motion.
Trump faced multiple charges, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.
The case is one of two brought by Smith and the federal government against Trump. The other involved Trump allegedly illegally storing classified documents at his residence in Florida after leaving office in 2021.
Trump has said he would fire Smith as soon as he takes office.
The Department of Justice has a long-standing rule that current presidents cannot be indicted, prosecuted or jailed in a criminal case while in office.
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More recently, the Supreme Court ruled that presidents cannot be prosecuted for crimes that involve official acts. The Supreme Court ruling forced multiple prosecutions of Trump to be paused as prosecutors determined whether any of the alleged crimes Trump committed were official acts.
This particular case was scheduled to go to trial in February, but Judge Tanya Chutkan wanted to await the Supreme Court's ruling before moving forward with the trial. The Supreme Court's ruling did not come until July 1.
Smith's announcement does not have any baring on Trump's legal case in New York where he was found guilty over the summer for falsifying business records. Trump was scheduled to be sentenced later this month, but it's unclear whether that sentencing will move forward given the results of Tuesday's election.
