For a former president embroiled in a head-spinning number of criminal cases, Jack Smith’s move to dismiss charges in Donald Trump’s election subversion matter on Monday closed the door on the legal saga that likely won’t be reopened again, according to a former federal prosecutor.
“The bottom line is it's over,” CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said. “Both of these cases are over.”
Hours after the incoming president’s case related to his actions on Jan. 6 was thrown out, Honig told viewers it could technically be revived in 2029 once Trump is no longer in office.
But don't count on it.
“That's not going to happen,” Honig said bluntly. “Let's be realistic. Some prosecutors are not going to come in four-and-change years from now and revive these cases. For all intents and purposes, it's over.”
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Honig added that Smith’s move on Monday to dismiss the charges wasn’t made because Trump had vowed to fire him on his first day in office.
“He's making these moves because he has to under long-standing Justice Department policy that goes back to 1973,” Honig said, noting that Smith confirmed with the Justice Department that Trump’s prosecution could not continue once he becomes president.
When asked if she thought Smith's move on Monday showed Trump “is above the law,” New York Times reporter Lulu Garcia-Navarro said his prosecution was “an unprecedented attempt to bring a former president to justice,” but he won.
“Trump was trying to run out the clock on these legal cases and he bet that he would win reelection,” Garcia-Navarro said on CNN’s “The Situation Room.”
She continued: “Neither Congress, nor our legal system, nor our voters, have constrained or punished Donald Trump for January 6. So, that's it, and certainly, I think there's going to be a lesson in that.”
Watch the clip below or at this link.
