Donald Trump Gets Good News From Jack Smith: Report

Special Counsel Jack Smith has reportedly decided not to seek a so-called “mini-trial” to present evidence in former President Donald Trump’s federal election interference case before the November election, according to sources who spoke with Bloomberg.

The decision by Smith means that evidence and testimonies related to Trump’s federal indictment—in which he is accused of attempting to overturn the 2020 election results—will not be presented to the public before voters head to the polls on November 5. As Bloomberg reports, Smith’s decision is a win for Trump’s defense team, who have long sought to delay his legal proceedings until after the election.

A spokesperson for Smith’s office declined to comment on Bloomberg’s report in an email to Newsweek Friday afternoon. An email was also sent to Trump’s campaign for comment.

People familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Bloomberg that Smith’s office is instead “carefully revising the case” against the former president. The case was held up for months pending the Supreme Court’s ruling on Trump’s arguments that he is protected from facing criminal charges under presidential immunity.

The justices ruled in July that presidents have full immunity for official actions, and the case was returned to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who will be tasked with deciding which actions listed in Trump’s indictment may now be protected under the Supreme Court’s order.

Smith had requested earlier this month that his office be granted additional time to sort out how the immunity ruling impacts the case. Chutkan granted the extension shortly after the request, setting the deadline for the prosecutors’ status report on the case for August 30. A status conference on the report is scheduled for September 5.

Legal analyst Neama Rahmani told Newsweek that delaying the case “of course” benefits the former president, who is vying for a second term in the White House.

“If he is reelected, the cases have to be dismissed because a sitting president can’t be prosecuted,” Rahmani, president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told Newsweek via email. “And even if he loses the election, Trump will continue to try to delay and litigate issues like presidential immunity and Smith’s appointment in both the trial and appellate courts because he’s had success doing so.”

Rahmani added, however, that Smith’s team is taking its time on the trial to ensure “it is done right.”

“Smith is a prosecutor, not a politician,” Rahmani wrote. “He’s not going to rush a trial with fewer witnesses and less evidence just to get it done before the election. If it happens, it will be the most politicized trial in American history, and Smith will want to make sure it is done right.”