Federal prosecutors have asked an appeals court to pause their bid to revive the criminal case against the United States President-elect Donald Trump, who was accused of mishandling classified documents after his first term as president ended.Special Counsel Jack Smith, 55, made the request on Wednesday in the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, asking for time to assess the impact of Trump’s pending return to the White House.
“The government respectfully requests the court hold this appeal in abeyance and stay the deadline for the government’s reply brief,” he wrote.
He added the requested pause will “afford the government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy”.
The move has underscored fears that Trump is set to emerge all but unscathed from the two cases filed against him in federal court.
Trump, 78, was accused of illegally holding onto classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after he left office in 2021.
A federal judge appointed to the bench by Trump dismissed the case in July, after ruling that Smith was improperly handed the special counsel role. Smith and his team subsequently appealed.
On Wednesday, however, Smith wrote that, if the court granted the pause, his office would return a decision on how it planned to proceed no later than December 2, 2024.
His office has already secured a similar pause in a second federal case accusing Trump of attempting to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election, events that concluded with the then-president delivering a fiery speech at a so-called “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6, 2021. …
