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Special prosecutor Jack Smith on Friday called for a pause in the criminal trial against Republican Donald Trump for the assault on the Capitol to assess the situation after he won the presidential election last Tuesday.
His petition to Judge Tanya Chutkan says he needs the remaining deadlines waived to determine “the appropriate path” consistent with Justice Department policies that bar investigations of presidents while they are in office.
Trump , who defeated Democratic vice president Kamala Harris on Tuesday and is set to be inaugurated on Jan. 20, is charged in the District of Columbia for his efforts to overturn the results of the election he lost in 2020 and for allegedly instigating the assault on the Capitol.
The petition recalls that, as a result of these elections, the Republican’s victory is expected to be certified on January 6 and he is expected to be sworn in as president on the 20th of that month.
Smith noted that the prosecution has consulted with defense attorneys and said they have not objected to the pause.
Accusations against Trump
According to The New York Times, Smith had already begun discussions with members of the Justice Department on how to move forward after the election in the two federal cases against Trump: the one for the assault on the Capitol and the accusation in Florida for having removed classified documents from the White House when leaving office.
Trump’s lawyers were expected to file a paperwork with the judge on Nov. 21 on why he should not be tried in Washington after the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents enjoy broad immunity from prosecution.
Smith indicated in his note that he could submit a report on the outcome of his deliberations by December 2.
The special prosecutor has not yet requested a pause in the Florida case. That case was dismissed on July 15, but Smith asked an appeals court on Aug. 26 to have it reinstated.
Trump faces four parallel criminal trials : two federal trials and two others in local courts in New York and Georgia.
Trump seeks dismissal of charges
The only one with a conviction is the one in New York for falsifying business records to cover up a payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels , with whom he allegedly had an affair in the past, to prevent her from harming his 2016 campaign.
Trump’s team’s goal, NBC News reported this week, is to have all the cases against him dismissed. The New York team is also considering indefinitely postponing the hearing scheduled for late November.
Under the US Constitution, a president cannot pardon himself in a state impeachment, as is the case in New York, and in Georgia, where he is accused of election interference, he cannot be pardoned by the governor either.
NBC News noted that the Justice Department appears to have assumed that neither the trial in Washington nor the one in Florida can take place in the near future and now that he has been re-elected, he sees no room for continuing them.
