United States | Politics and justice

As Jack Smith exits, Donald Trump’s allies hint at retribution

The president-elect hopes to hand the Justice Department to loyalists

Special Counsel Jack Smith bows his head.
Jack Smith bows to realityPhotograph: Getty Images
|New York

In the end Jack Smith jumped before he could be pushed. On November 25th the special counsel who spent two years pursuing Donald Trump dropped the two federal indictments against him. The Department of Justice (DoJ) forbids prosecuting sitting presidents, so this was a question of when, not if. Mr Smith will file a report about his futile endeavour before packing his things. The alternative was a stand-off with Mr Trump, who had promised to fire him “within two seconds” of his inauguration. The two criminal cases against Mr Trump in state court, in Georgia and New York, are in effect over, too.

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This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Farewell trials, hello retribution”

From the November 30th 2024 edition

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