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Judge puts Trump’s election interference case on hold

Nov 8, 2024, 1:53pm EST
Former U.S. President Donald Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith are seen in a combination of file photos in Washington, U.S., in 2023.
Tasos Katopodis, Kevin Wurm/File Photo/Reuters
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The News

A judge moved to freeze the prosecution of Donald Trump over his election interference Friday, the likely first step towards ending the federal case accusing the president-elect of plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The Justice Department’s special counsel Jack Smith had asked a judge overseeing the case to pause the case, requesting a month to “assess this unprecedented circumstance.” US District Judge Tanya Chuktan said the administration would have until Dec. 2 to update the court on its deliberations.

The Justice Department has a longstanding policy against prosecuting sitting presidents, and has already started to discuss how to wind down the two federal cases against Trump after his election this week, NBC reported.

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Trump is also scheduled to be sentenced in New York on Nov. 26 after being found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in a criminal case against him. His lawyers have argued that the case should be thrown out due to a recent Supreme Court ruling expanding presidential immunity.

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