Judge tosses Trump 2020 election case after prosecutors' request

A US judge on Nov 25 dismissed the federal criminal case accusing Donald Trump of attempting to overturn his 2020 election defeat after prosecutors moved to drop that prosecution and a second case against the President-elect, citing Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.

The order from US District Judge Tanya Chutkan puts an end to the federal effort to hold Trump criminally responsible for his attempts to remain in power after losing the 2020 election, culminating in the Jan 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by a mob of his supporters.

The move came after Special Counsel Jack Smith, the lead prosecutor overseeing both cases, moved to dismiss the election case and end his attempt to revive a separate case accusing Trump of illegally retaining classified documents when he left office in 2021 after his first term as president.

It represents a big legal victory for the Republican President-elect, who won the Nov 5 vote and is set to return to office on Jan 20.

The Justice Department policy that the prosecutors cited dates back to the 1970s. It holds that a criminal prosecution of a sitting president would violate the US Constitution by undermining the ability of the country's chief executive to function. Courts will still have to approve both requests from prosecutors.

The prosecutors in a filing in the election subversion case said the department's policy requires the case to be dismissed before Trump returns to the White House.

"This outcome is not based on the merits or strength of the case against the defendant," prosecutors wrote in the filing.