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1 Trump Federal Election Interference Case Tossed By Judge
Just hours after special counsel Jack Smith asked a judge to dismiss the election interference case against President-elect Donald Trump, that’s exactly what she did. US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan dismissed the election interference charges against Trump without prejudice, meaning he could still be tried for the charges after he leaves the White House. Most experts believe the chances of that happening are slim at best since the statute of limitations will have expired in the case before Trump’s term is over. Smith also moved to dismiss his appeal of the classified documents case against Trump. The special counsel asked that both the prosecution in the interference case and the appeal in the classified documents case continue against Trump’s co-defendants. Smith plans to step down and close his office by inauguration day on January 20th, with Attorney General Merrick Garland previously saying that he plans to make the final reports of all special counsel public, including not only Smith’s but those of Robert Hur after his probe of President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents and John Durham’s report on his probe of the 2016 Russia investigation.
2 Top Federal Prosecutor In New York Resigns
US Attorney Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in New York, announced yesterday that he plans to resign effective December 13th. In a statement, Williams called his decision to step down “bittersweet,” saying “It is bitter in the sense that I am leaving my dream job,” then said, “It is sweet in that I am confident I am leaving at a time when the Office is functioning at an incredibly high level.” Edward Y. Kim, Williams’ deputy, will become acting US attorney after Williams is gone. Williams has been overseeing the prosecutions of New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Sean “Diddy” Combs, and secured convictions against Sen. Robert Menendez, Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, and cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried. President-elect Donald Trump has already announced that he plans to nominate his former Securities and Exchange Commission head Jay Clayton to the position.
3 President Biden Pardons His Final Two Turkeys
For the final time, President Joe Biden gave the gift of freedom to two turkeys yesterday. It’s the fourth and final time Biden will get to pardon turkeys to kick off the holiday season in Washington, and this year’s lucky pardonees were Peach and Blossom, named after the Delaware state flower. Biden joked that there were over two thousand people at the event and that most of them wanted a pardon too. The turkeys will be taken to Faramerica: MN Agricultural Interpretive Center in Minnesota to live out the rest of their days in peace and unbasted.