WASHINGTON (AP) — One year after the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department was committed to holding accountable all perpetrators “at any level” for “the assault on our democracy.” That bold declaration won't apply to at least one person: Donald Trump.
Special counsel Jack Smith's move on Monday to abandon the federal election interference case against Trump means jurors will likely never decide whether the president-elect is criminally responsible for his attempts to cling to power after losing the 2020 campaign. The decision to walk away from the election charges and the separate classified documents case against Trump marks an abrupt end of the Justice Department’s unprecedented legal effort that once threatened his liberty but appears only to have galvanized his supporters.
The abandonment of the cases accusing Trump of endangering American democracy and national security does away with the most serious legal threats he was facing as he returns to the White House. It was the culmination of a monthslong defense effort to delay the proceedings at every step and use the criminal allegations to Trump's political advantage, putting the final word in the hands of voters instead of jurors.
“We always knew that the rich and powerful had an advantage, but I don’t think we would have ever believed that somebody could walk away from everything,” said Stephen Saltzburg, a George Washington University law professor and former Justice Department official. “If there ever was a Teflon defendant, that’s Donald Trump.”
While prosecutors left the door open to the possibility that federal charges could be re-filed against Trump after he leaves office, that seems unlikely. Meanwhile, Trump's presidential victory has thrown into question the future of the two state criminal cases against him in New York and Georgia. Trump was supposed to be sentenced on Tuesday after his conviction on 34 felony counts in his New York hush money case, but it's possible the sentencing could be delayed until after Trump leaves office, and the defense is pushing to dismiss the case altogether.
Smith's team stressed that their decision to abandon the federal cases was not a reflection of the merit of the charges, but an acknowledgement that they could not move forward under longstanding Justice Department policy that says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution.
Trump's presidential victory set “at odds two fundamental and compelling national interests: On the one hand, the Constitution’s requirement that the President must not be unduly encumbered in fulfilling his weighty responsibilities . . . and on the other hand, the Nation’s commitment to the rule of law,” prosecutors wrote in court papers.
The move just weeks after Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris underscores the immense personal stake Trump had in the campaign in which he turned his legal woes into a political rallying cry. Trump accused prosecutors of bringing the charges in a bid to keep him out of the White House, and he promised revenge on his perceived enemies if he won a second term.
“If Donald J. Trump had lost an election, he may very well have spent the rest of his life in prison,” Vice President-elect JD Vance, wrote in a social media post on Monday. “These prosecutions were always political. Now it’s time to ensure what happened to President Trump never happens in this country again.”
After the Jan. 6 attack by Trump supporters that left more than 100 police officers injured, Republican leader Mitch McConnell and several other Republicans who voted to acquit Trump during his Senate impeachment trial said it was up to the justice system to hold Trump accountable.
The Jan. 6 case brought last year in Washington alleged an increasingly desperate criminal conspiracy to subvert the will of voters after Trump's 2020 loss, accusing Trump of using the angry mob of supporters that attacked the Capitol as “a tool” in his campaign to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence and obstruct the certification of Democrat Joe Biden's victory.
Hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters — many of whom have said they felt called to Washington by Trump — have pleaded guilty or been convicted by juries of federal charges at the same courthouse where Trump was supposed to stand trial last year. As the trial date neared, officials at the courthouse that sits within view of the Capitol were busy making plans for the crush of reporters expected to cover the historic case.
But Trump's argument that he enjoyed absolute immunity from prosecution quickly tied up the case in appeals all the way up to the Supreme Court. The high court ruled in July that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, and sent the case back to the trial court to decide which allegations could move forward. But the case was dismissed before the trial court could get a chance to do so.
The other indictment brought in Florida accused Trump of improperly storing at his Mar-a-Lago estate sensitive documents on nuclear capabilities, enlisting aides and lawyers to help him hide records demanded by investigators and cavalierly showing off a Pentagon “plan of attack” and classified map.
But U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case in July on grounds that Smith was illegally appointed. Smith appealed to the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but abandoned that appeal on Monday. Smith's team said it would continue its fight in the appeals court to revive charges against Trump's two co-defendants because “no principle of temporary immunity applies to them.”
In New York, jurors spent weeks last spring hearing evidence in a state case alleging a Trump scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex. New York prosecutors recently expressed openness to delaying sentencing until after Trump's second term, while Trump's lawyers are fighting to have the conviction dismissed altogether.
In Georgia, a trial while Trump is in office seems unlikely in a state case charging him and more than a dozen others with conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. The case has been on hold since an appeals court agreed to review whether to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she had hired to lead the case.
Associated Press reporter Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed.
FILE - President-elect Donald Trump speaks at meeting of the House GOP conference, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
ROME (AP) — Robert Lewandowski joined Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the only players in Champions League history with 100 or more goals. But Erling Haaland is on a faster pace than anyone by boosting his total to 46 goals at age 24 on Tuesday.
Still, Haaland's brace wasn't enough for Manchester City in a 3-3 draw with Feyenoord that extended the Premier League champion's winless streak to six matches.
Lewandowski’s early penalty kick started Barcelona off to a 3-0 win over previously unbeaten Brest to move into second place in the new single-league format. The Poland striker added goal No. 101 in second-half stoppage time.
Ronaldo leads the all-time scoring list with 140 goals and Messi is next with 129. But neither Ronaldo nor Messi play in the Champions League anymore following moves to Saudi Arabia and the United States, respectively.
The 36-year-old Lewandowski required 125 matches to reach the century mark, two more than Messi (123) and 12 fewer than Ronaldo (137).
Barcelona also got a second-half score from Dani Olmo.
The top eight finishers in the standings advance directly to the round of 16 in March. Teams ranked ninth to 24th go into a knockout playoffs round in February, while the bottom 12 teams are eliminated.
Haaland converted a first-half penalty to eclipse Messi as the youngest player to reach 45 goals then scored City's third after the break to raise his total to 46 goals in 44 games.
Ilkay Gundogan had City's second.
But then Feyenoord struck back with goals from Anis Hadj Moussa, Santiago Gimenez and David Hancko.
Inter Milan beat Leipzig 1-0 with an own goal to move atop the standings with 13 points, one more than Barcelona and Liverpool, which faces Real Madrid on Wednesday. The Serie A champion is the only club that hasn't conceded a goal.
Bayern Munich beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 — the same score from the 2020 final between the two teams. PSG ended with 10 men and remained in the elimination zone. The French powerhouse has struggled in Europe after Kylian Mbappe’s move to Real Madrid.
Kim Min-jae’s first-half header was enough for Bayern, especially after Ousmane Dembelé was sent off in the 56th with his second yellow.
Atalanta moved within two points of the lead with a 6-1 win at Young Boys. Charles De Ketelaere scored two and assisted on three other goals for Atalanta.
Also, Arsenal kept red-hot striker Viktor Gyokeres quiet in a 5-1 win over Sporting Lisbon; and Germany star Florian Wirtz scored two goals and was involved in two more as Bayer Leverkusen boosted its chances of finishing in the top eight with a 5-0 rout of Salzburg.
AC Milan followed up its win at Real Madrid with a 3-2 victory at last-place Slovan Bratislava in an early match.
Christian Pulisic put the seven-time champion ahead midway through the first half by finishing off a counterattack. Then Rafael Leao restored the Rossoneri’s advantage after Tigran Barseghyan had equalized for Bratislava and Tammy Abraham quickly added another.
Nino Marcelli scored with a long-range strike in the 88th for Bratislava, which ended with 10 men.
Bratislava has lost all five of its matches.
Argentina World Cup winner Julian Alvarez scored twice and Atletico Madrid routed Sparta Prague 6-0 in the other early game.
Alvarez scored with a free kick 15 minutes in and Marcos Llorente added a long-range strike before the break. Alvarez finished off a counterattack early in the second half after being set up by substitute Antoine Griezmann, who then marked his 100th Champions League game by getting on the scoresheet himself.
Angel Correa added a late brace for Atletico, which earned its biggest away win in Europe.
Atletico beat Paris Saint-Germain in the previous round and extended its winning streak across all competitions to six matches.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Atletico's Julian Alvarez celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between between Sparta Prague and Athletico Madrid in Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (Michaela Rihova/CTK via AP)
AC Milan's Christian Pulisic, left, Slovan's Kyriakos Savvidis fight for the ball during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Slovan Bratislava and AC Milan in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
AC Milan's Rafael Leao scores the second goal against Slovan Bratislava during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Slovan Bratislava and AC Milan in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Bayern's Kim Min-jae, right, reacts after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between FC Bayern and Paris Saint Germain, at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024.(AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Bayern's Kim Min-jae, left, scores his side's opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between FC Bayern and Paris Saint Germain, at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024.(AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola takes his seat on the bench before the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Manchester City and Feyenoord at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Manchester City's Erling Haaland, center, celebrates with Phil Foden, left, after scoring his side's third goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Manchester City and Feyenoord at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Manchester City's Erling Haaland, center, celebrates with Phil Foden, left, after scoring his side's third goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Manchester City and Feyenoord at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Manchester City's Erling Haaland scores his side's third goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Manchester City and Feyenoord at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski celebrates after scoring his team's first goal during a Champions League phase soccer Matchday 5 between Barcelona and Brest at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski shoots from the penalty spot to score his team's first goal during a Champions League phase soccer Matchday 5 between Barcelona and Brest at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski celebrates after scoring his team's first goal during a Champions League phase soccer Matchday 5 between Barcelona and Brest at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski celebrates after scoring his team's first goal during a Champions League phase soccer Matchday 5 between Barcelona and Brest at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
