It appears the witch hunt has been all-but called off.
Special Counsel Jack Smith decided to hit the brakes on his endless appeals against President-elect Donald Trump, filing a motion with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to put his crusade against Trump on pause. This move, coming just two weeks after Trump’s historic re-election, essentially means Smith is shelving his appeal against Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. But he’s not officially giving up; he’s simply letting it sit on the docket, inactive—frozen in legal limbo.
The original case, launched back in 2022 by the Biden-appointed Attorney General Merrick Garland, was an all-out attempt to frame Trump’s keeping of documents at Mar-a-Lago as some nefarious act. U.S. Judge Aileen Cannon saw right through it and dismissed the case last July. Smith, refusing to back down, appealed that decision, aiming to keep this debunked narrative alive. Now, though, with Trump set to take the helm again, it’s clear that DOJ policies are hitting a wall: there’s no legal precedent, and no DOJ protocol, that allows for prosecuting a sitting president.
Smith’s motion on Wednesday reveals he’s still clinging to the appeal, but the request to “hold in abeyance” effectively keeps it in stasis. Instead of advancing his claims, he’s asking for time and promising an update by December 2. This may be the relief Trump anticipated after his re-election, given that he didn’t mince words about his plans for Smith if he returned to office: “firing him within two seconds” was the game plan.
This halt on Smith’s side comes alongside his decision to vacate deadlines in a separate case targeting Trump over alleged 2020 election interference in Washington, D.C. Between these cases, it’s clear the DOJ is finally backing down. Even Fox News has reported that the DOJ has been looking to wrap up its endless Trump “investigations,” all thanks to a longstanding Office of Legal Counsel memo that bars investigations of a sitting president on federal charges.
In the end, this desperate pursuit of Trump by the DOJ was never about justice or national security. It was about using the justice system as a tool for political gain. Democrats spent years attempting to weaponize federal agencies to bring down Trump, but each attempt has backfired. Now, with Trump set to enter his second term, the game is over.
Smith and his DOJ allies have proven one thing: they can’t stop Trump. The American people have spoken, choosing to restore leadership that fights for their freedom rather than prosecutes it. If there’s a silver lining here, it’s this—Trump’s return to office means an end to politically motivated prosecutions and a renewed commitment to uphold the rule of law.
