A US federal appeals court on Thursday, November 14, suspended the ongoing proceedings against Donald Trump for withholding classified documents after his departure from the White House, at the request of special prosecutor Jack Smith.
In this case, in Florida, Judge Aileen Cannon had already annulled the procedure on July 15, alleging that the appointment of the special prosecutor in this case and the financing of his work violated the articles of the Constitution relating to appointments and expenses. Jack Smith appealed this decision. It is this resource that is now suspended.
The special counsel took the same step last week in the other federal proceedings he is investigating in Washington against the former president for illegal attempts to reverse the results of the 2020 elections, in order to give the prosecution time to analyze the situation. “unprecedented situation” created by the election of Donald Trump.
An unprecedented situation
On Wednesday, the special counsel asked the appeals court to freeze the calendar since Donald Trump became president-elect. “The time has come to analyze this unprecedented situation and determine the course of action to follow in accordance with the policy of the Ministry of Justice”using the same terms as in the other file.
There it also specifies that it will present “the result of their deliberations” before December 2nd. The Department of Justice has had a policy for more than fifty years of not prosecuting a sitting president.
The situation of a presidential candidate being criminally prosecuted and then elected is unprecedented, but most legal commentators expect an extension of this policy to the case of Donald Trump, which would allow him to escape federal prosecution until the end of his term. new mandate.
In this case, one of the four criminal proceedings against him, he was accused of having compromised national security by keeping documents, including military plans or information on nuclear weapons, in his private residence after the end of his term, instead of handing them over. to the National Archives as required by law.
He was also accused of attempting to destroy evidence. The most serious charges were punishable by ten years in prison.
