Updated on November 6, 2024 at 17:12 ET

Donald Trump began this year fighting two federal investigations that threaten to send him to prison. But he will finish this job free of the most important criminal legal problems.

With his resounding victory in the election and the Justice Department’s longstanding policy against prosecuting a sitting president, the question is not whether but when prosecutors will move to dismiss or delay the federal election interference case in Washington, D.C.

Trump recently said he would fire special counsel Jack Smith “within two seconds” after he returns to the White House. This will no longer be necessary to end federal crime problems.

Smith is taking steps to end both federal cases against Trump before the president-elect takes office, according to a source familiar with the Justice Department’s deliberations.

1. What are the federal government’s lawsuits against Trump?

A grand jury in Washington this year indicted Trump on four felony charges in connection with his effort to stay in power in 2020, which culminated in the violent siege of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Judge Tanya Chutkan had set a trial date for March 2024, but that date came and went after the Supreme Court accepted the case. Granted significant immunity to Trump He was removed from the investigation due to official actions he took at the White House.

The judge is now beginning to consider which parts of the prosecution’s case constitute official acts and which are private conduct by a person seeking to serve in the place of an incumbent.

The Justice Department has filed an appeal in a separate criminal case against Trump, accusing the former president of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort and refusing to return them to the FBI.

Judge Aileen Cannon, appointed to the bench by Trump dismissed the paperwork case This year, on July 15, the first day of the Republican National Congress, a lawsuit was filed on the grounds that the way the special counsel was appointed was unconstitutional. The Justice Department is seeking review by a higher court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

2. What does Trump’s election victory mean for these cases?

They are on life support and will likely expire even before the opening in January.

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At his campaign hearing, President-elect Trump vowed to fire special counsel Jack Smith on his first day in office. But Trump would not need to fire Smith or order new Justice Department officials to fire Smith to end criminal prosecutions.

In 2000, an attorney in the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel who advised the federal government on its powers and limits. concluded He said a sitting president cannot be impeached or prosecuted because that would “unconstitutionally undermine the capacity of the executive branch to carry out its constitutionally appointed functions.”

Administrations led by Republicans and Democrats have adopted Justice Department policy of bringing lawsuits against presidents.

The Florida case involving classified documents is a little more complicated. The DOJ may notify the appellate court that the appeal is abandoned. However in this situation The other two defendants include Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira.

Rejecting the appeal outright would also mean moving away from the cases prosecutors have filed against the two defendants, Trump’s personal assistant and his Mar-a-Lago property manager.

Moreover, the federal government may have a broader interest because Cannon’s reasoning could upend the way special prosecutors have been appointed for decades.

But a Justice Department veteran who was not authorized to speak publicly told NPR that Cannon’s decision would not be considered binding precedent, so the risk may be lower.

Former Attorney General William Barr said voters weighed the allegations against Trump and decisively made their own decisions.

“Further maneuvering on these cases in the coming weeks will serve no legitimate purpose and will only distract the country and the incoming administration from the task at hand,” Barr said in a written statement first reported by the Guardian. he said.

3. What will happen to special counsel Jack Smith?

When special advisors finish their work, they are obliged to report their actions to the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. The current attorney general, Merrick Garland, has promised to make many of these reports public.

If Smith’s written report isn’t completed by Inauguration Day, it will be up to new Justice Department leaders to determine its fate.

Mike Davis, a Trump ally, told a conservative interviewer this week that the attorney general was “probably President Trump’s most important appointment.”

Davis told the interviewer that Smith’s entire office should be fired, saying: “From today on, Jack Smith, you will be hunted legally, politically and financially. Then become a lawyer, my friend.

4. Trump also faces criminal charges in two states, New York and Georgia. How will the election reshape these cases?

This year, a grand jury in New York indicted Trump on 34 accounting-related charges for allegedly paying hush money to an adult film actor shortly before the 2016 election.

Judge Juan Merchan scheduled a hearing for Nov. 12 to consider how the Supreme Court’s immunity decision might affect the case. It is unclear whether the sentence set for Thanksgiving week will be imposed on Trump. Trump’s lawyers may try to stop this, given the election results.

The lawsuit against Trump in Fulton County, Ga., over alleged election interference had been stalled for months before the high court deemed it possible. conflicts of interest Including District Attorney Fani Willis. A hearing on this appeal is scheduled for December 5.

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