The step complies with long-standing Justice Department policy that a sitting president can't be prosecuted, two people familiar with the matter told NBC News.

Summary

With Donald Trump’s re-election, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is preparing to suspend federal criminal cases against him, as longstanding policy bars prosecuting a sitting president.

Special counsel Jack Smith, who previously pressed forward on charges related to January 6 and classified documents, must now consider unwinding these cases.

The DOJ’s stance follows a 2000 memo suggesting impeachment, not prosecution, as the proper recourse for a sitting president.

Trump’s legal team is also strategizing to dismiss or delay other cases, viewing his victory as a mandate to end “weaponization” of the justice system.

  • nxn@biglemmowski.winEnglish
    601·
    11 days ago

    This is what irritates me the most. I can live with Trump being president despite how much I disagree with the idiot’s concepts. But this places him, as a very orange person, above the law that others have to abide by.

    These are cases that were filed before his “president” status from the result of this election and before he even became a candidate in this election. For fuck sake, this should have stopped the whole ball from rolling.

  • xenomor@lemmy.world
    48·
    11 days ago

    Just take a moment to marvel at the naked fiction that is law and order in this country. This is the entrenched oligarchy leaping into action, if full public view, to preserve their insulation from the very laws they use to rule you. The grotesque irony here, of course, is that this is the very “swamp” that maga dupes blab on and on about. Their lord and savior thinks so little of his moronic minions that he has no shame in flaunting his very own participation in that swamp right in front of them. Never pretend that we live in a rules-based society, nor doubt that the vast majority of Americans are among the dumbest motherfuckers to ever grace this earth. Sure assholes, take another swig of that milky self aggrievement from that feudal teet. I could not have more contempt for the reality of this fucked up, corrupt, hypocritical, and thoroughly evil nation.

  • sensiblepuffin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    451·
    11 days ago

    “Longstanding policy” = what we did the last time this fucker was elected. There is no precedent for this, and the entire judicial branch shrugged and said “What are you going to do?”.

    • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      11 days ago

      The DOJ will work for him starting January 20th. Even if they continued he would just have them drop it all that day.

  • Asafum@feddit.nl
    281·
    11 days ago

    “Trump’s legal team is also strategizing to dismiss or delay other cases, viewing his victory as a mandate to end “weaponization” of the justice system.”

    This is the part that pisses me off so fucking much. It’s EXACTLY what they plan on doing and with a complete disregard for the actual law and rubber stamp judges they’re going to fast track prosecution where it took years to move anything related to Trump…

    I expect to see multiple arrests within the first two years as opposed to 4+ years of feet dragging for Trump…

    • grue@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      11 days ago

      They’re also going to pack SCOTUS and the rest of the Federal judiciary even more. Even if Trump leaves power in four years and even if we still have non-farcical elections by then, we are going to be stuck with an insane, corrupt, Taliban-esque judiciary for decades.

  • ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world
    181·
    11 days ago

    Fuck that. Crank that shit into high gear. Put him in jail and tell Vance “If you let him rot in there, you get to be president”.

  • ThatOneKrazyKaptain@lemmy.world
    12·
    11 days ago

    Had Trump won in 2020, he’d have taken the fall for the Recession and Hyperinflation and it would have caused a 2008 effect. Populist Wave haulted, strangled in it’s crib by Coronachan.

    Had Trump won in 2020, he’d be done now and his VP would still be the democracy respecting Pence.

    Trump when elected in 2016 had no major plan and mostly left the employees of the state intact, and in 2020 the change was minimal. Now there’s a full blown scheme to control the government

    In 2020 they didn’t know how much they could get away with. They’ve seen the limits now.

    Winning in 2020 means no January 6th shattering the overton window and leading SCOTUS to some interesting choices about power.

    2020-2024 had one Supreme Court Justice to appoint. Now there’s another 2 if not 3

    In 2020 it would have been close. Now Democrats will have to regain ground, New Jersey New Hampshire and Minnesota are now Swing States.

    2016 Trump had his populist wave weakened by Gary Johnson and Evan McMulin who blocked the popular vote and kept states like Colorado and New Mexico out of his hands. 2016 Trump sucked with Hispanics. That initial wave would have burnt out with the COVID fuckery. Instead Democrats slotted in, took the 4 worst possible years, and are handing it back having effectively both given them another shot in the arm and crippled themselves. There goes the court. This isn’t John Kerry, it’s Carter.

    I’ve heard of 2020 hindsight, but this is ridiculous

  • masterofn001@lemmy.ca
    91·
    11 days ago

    I have a longstanding policy that says trump can choke on an 7 layet ecoli burrito.

    I also have a longstanding policy that laws don’t apply to me.

    Fuck trump.

    Hail Eris.

    Praise Bob.

    Eat the rich.

    Feed the poor.

    Fuck shit up.