Trump Rips DOJ Indictments As ‘Empty And Lawless’ As Cases Dropped

President-elect Donald Trump tore into the felony criminal cases that had been filed against him by special counsel Jack Smith, calling them “empty and lawless,” after Smith requested to drop the cases Monday due to Trump soon taking office.
In a two-part post on Truth Social, Trump slammed the indictments against him related to his handling of classified documents and the 2020 election’s certification as a waste of taxpayers’ money.
“These cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought. Over $100 Million Dollars of Taxpayer Dollars has been wasted in the Democrat Party’s fight against their Political Opponent, ME,” he wrote.
“It was a political hijacking, and a low point in the History of our Country that such a thing could have happened, and yet, I persevered, against all odds, and WON,” he continued.
A Trump spokesperson also separately hailed the Justice Department’s decision as a “major victory for the rule of law.”
“The American People and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country,” Trump’s communications director, Steven Cheung, said in a statement.
Smith did not conclude that Trump is innocent of the charges against him as his reason for requesting the two cases to be dismissed. Instead, he cited the Justice Department’s long-standing policy not to prosecute a sitting president, which Trump will be following his inauguration in January, as his reason for requesting the indictments be dropped.
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Smith said his department consulted with its Office of Legal Counsel before coming to its decision and that despite the dismissal, the federal government continues to stand “fully behind” the merits of its original prosecution against Trump.
“The government’s position on the merits of the defendant’s prosecution has not changed,” he said. “But the circumstances have.”
Both cases were requested to be dismissed “without prejudice,” meaning that the charges could be refiled against Trump once he leaves office.