A federal judge has dismissed the election interference case against US President-elect Donald Trump after granting a request by the special prosecutor who cited changed circumstances after he won the presidency.
Special Prosecutor Jack Smith filed requests to the judges in the two cases he had filed against Trump relating to his alleged role in the January 6 riot and the removal of classified documents from the White House.
This was accepted by Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, while dismissing all the charges against Trump in the case filed for election interference.
In the classified documents case, Judge Aileen Cannon had dismissed the case filed by Smith who went on to appeal her decision to a higher court.
He had written to the appeals court that he was withdrawing his appeal and dropping the charges and it is expected the court will comply.
Smith said he was dismissing the case due to Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting President but maintained that the prosecution was valid in itself.
"The Government's position on the merits of the defendant's prosecution has not changed. But the circumstances have," he wrote, noting that "a criminal prosecution is already underway when the defendant is elected president".
Trump had denounced the two prosecutions as politically-motivated weaponisation of the judicial system.
This removes the cloud of federal prosecution hanging over him as he prepares to become President again in January.
In a local-level prosecution in New York, he was convicted of fraud for recording hush money payments to a porn star as legal expenses. The prosecutor has asked the judge to indefinitely postpone the sentencing while Trump's lawyers have asked for dismissal.
Judge Juan Merchan has set deadlines next month for the two sides to file papers regarding the dismissal request.
Another local election interference in Georgia is tangled up in allegations of misconduct by the prosecutor who hired her ex-boyfriend to help prosecute it.
Although US Vice-President Kamala Harris made the prosecutions and the convictions a campaign issue, they did not have an impact on the voters and Trump donning the mantle of martyr helped him win the election.
In the case of election interference in Washington, Trump faced several charges in stopping Congress from the certification of President Joe Biden as he supposedly tried to reverse the 2020 elections.
On January 6, 2021, Trump's supporters rioted after hearing him address a rally claiming he was being cheated of his election victory and opposing the Congress action.
The rioters invaded the Capitol with threats against then-US Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress, who had to flee to escape the fury of the rioters.
Scores of participants in the riot have been convicted, and many have been sentenced to prison terms. Trump had promised during his campaign to pardon them.
In the secret documents case, Smith said he wanted to continue the prosecution against two employees of Trump who are charged with obstructing the investigation.
Biden had also allegedly taken secret documents, but Smith refused to prosecute him, citing his mental state as a first indication of what ballooned into questions over his competence that led him to make the decision not to run for re-election.
Read also| Russia and Belarus to Rely on International Law to Counter Western Sanctions
