Donald Trump's 2024 presidential election win is already having an impact on his pending court cases: a federal judge paused a 2020 election interference prosecution from Special Counsel Jack Smith Friday.
What Happened: Trump's defeat of Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election will put him back in the White House in January 2025. The election win could make it possible for Trump to avoid courtrooms in the future, with pending cases likely to be dismissed and thrown out.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan paused a case against Trump related to election interference claims. Special Counsel Jack Smith previously charged Trump with trying to remain in the White House after the 2020 election despite losing to President Joe Biden.
Smith filed to pause the proceedings and said he plans to make a filing on Dec. 2 about how the criminal case should proceed now that Trump will be president again, as reported by Bloomberg.
Justice Department policy prevents the current president from being prosecuted, according to the report. Smith said the case will likely be dropped due to this policy.
On Friday, Smith said in a filing that he needs "time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward" due to the Department of Justice policy.
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What's Next: The 2020 election interference isn't the only case impacted by Trump's 2024 win.
Trump was previously found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in what is known as the hush money trial. Sentencing in the case was delayed several times by Judge Juan Merchan and a sentencing date of Nov. 26 is now in question after Trump's election victory.
As Benzinga reported Thursday, legal experts are skeptical that Merchan would still carry out sentencing of the future sitting president. Merchan also plans to issue a ruling by Nov. 12 on Trump's legal team's request to toss out the guilty verdict after the Supreme Court issued partial immunity to former presidents earlier this year.
Trump faces potential punishment of up to four years in prison for each guilty verdict, with a limit of 20 total years in prison. While prison time is unlikely due to his lack of a previous criminal record, Trump could receive probation or home confinement.
If Merchan chooses to continue with sentencing he would be tasked with deciding whether to defer the sentencing to 2029 when Trump is out of the White House, delay Trump's punishment until 2029 or try to place the punishment on Trump while he's in office.
A classified documents case against Trump saw the former president charged in June 2023. The case, which was also brought against Trump by Smith, is also expected to be dismissed after the election result, Bloomberg reported.
A case against Trump in the state of Georgia saw charges brought against the former president in August 2023 related to conspiracy in the 2020 election. Trump's legal team is preparing for an argument to dismiss the case due to his return to the White House.
Among the reasons legal experts expect the cases to be dropped against Trump is a fear of retaliation against the judges and lawyers involved in cases.
On Thursday, Trump ally Mike Davis issued a warning to New York Attorney General Letitia James during an appearance on "The Benny Show" podcast.
"I dare you to try to continue your lawfare against President Trump in his second term," Davis said, as reported by the New York Post. "Listen her, sweetheart, we're not messing around this time and we will put your fat a– in prison for conspiracy against rights. I promise you that."
James won a $454 million civil fraud judgment in the state of New York related to Trump and the Trump Organization's business dealings in the state. On Wednesday, James said she would "use the rule of law to fight back" against Trump. The president-elect has appealed the ruling in New York.
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