Judge grants Jack Smith's request to pause Trump Jan. 6 case

A federal judge granted a request from special counsel Jack Smith on Friday to suspend deadlines in President-elect Trump’s election interference case.

The move comes after Smith begun discussions with Justice Department officials earlier this week about how to wind down Trump’s federal criminal cases, which likewise includes charges in Florida related to his retention of classified documents.

“As a result of the election held on November 5, 2024, the defendant is expected to be certified as President-elect on January 6, 2025, and inaugurated on January 20, 2025. The Government respectfully requests that the Court vacate the remaining deadlines in the pretrial schedule to afford the Government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy,” Smith’s team wrote in a brief Friday.

The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) advises against the criminal prosecution of a sitting president.

“The Department concluded that the indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting President would impermissibly undermine the capacity of the executive branch to perform its constitutionally assigned functions,” the OLC, which helps craft the department’s policies, determined in a 1973 memo.

Smith charged Trump in the case with four felonies that accused him of conspiring to subvert the 2020 election results. He pleaded not guilty.

Trump's attorneys are due to submit their written arguments by Nov. 21 on why they believe the indictment cannot survive in the wake of the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling. Deadlines for additional filings on immunity and other issues are slated for the weeks during the presidential transition.

The president-elect did not object to wiping the upcoming deadlines, the filing indicates, but Judge Tanya Chutkan, who oversees the trial proceedings, approved the request within minutes.

Smith said he would send another update to the court by Dec. 2, to “otherwise inform the Court of the result of its deliberations.”

Trump’s Florida documents case was dismissed by Judge Aileen Cannon, and Smith has appealed that decision, which determined his appointment was unlawful.  

Lawyers for Trump believe his status as president-elect compels an immediate halt in all four of his criminal prosecutions.

The special counsel has not yet sought to freeze his other prosecution of Trump on charges of mishandling classified documents and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. 

Attorneys for the president-elect are also expected to demand that his upcoming sentencing in New York on 34 charges of falsifying business records be canceled and his election interference case in Georgia also be put on ice.

Smith’s filing came just moments before a letter from House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), chair of the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight, asked the special counsel to preserve all records related to his investigation.

The letter is a clear sign of GOP plans to continue its investigation of Smith in the next Congress.

“The Office of Special Counsel is not immune from transparency or above accountability for its actions,” the two lawmakers wrote.

“This letter serves as a formal request to preserve all existing and future records and materials related to the Office of Special Counsel’s investigations and prosecutions of President Trump. You should construe this preservation notice as an instruction to take all reasonable steps to prevent the destruction or alteration, whether intentionally or negligently.”

Jordan was subpoenaed by the now-disbanded Jan. 6 committee, which sought information about any contacts he had with the Trump White House about his plans to stay in office. They also asked Loudermilk about a tour of the Capitol he gave to two men who later marched to the building on Jan. 6.

Updated at 12:55 p.m. EST