Judge halts action in Trump election case as prosecutors look to drop charges

WASHINGTON ? U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan halted all deadlines Friday for filings in the election interference case against President-elect Donald Trump while federal prosecutors prepared to withdraw the charges.

Chutkan's decision came after a Justice Department source said this week that special counsel Jack Smith planned to wind down both federal prosecutions of Trump because of department policy against trying a sitting president.

"The Government respectfully requests that the Court vacate the remaining deadlines in the pretrialschedule to afford the Government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determinethe appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy," Smith said in a filing Friday.

The Trump campaign issued a statement saying the criminal cases against the president-elect should be dropped.

“The American people have re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate to Make America Great Again," Steven Cheung, a campaign spokesperson, said in a statement.

"It is now abundantly clear that Americans want an immediate end to the weaponization of our justice system, so we can, as President Trump said in his historic victory speech, unify our country and work together for the betterment of our nation,” Cheung said.

Continuing to pursue the charges against the former president would violate longstanding policy against prosecuting a sitting president. The department's decision about how to withdraw the charges could come within weeks because of looming deadlines in both federal cases.

Trump faces charges in Washington, D.C., that he tried to steal the 2020 election and obstruct Congress from counting Electoral College votes on Jan. 6, 2021. Chutkan was in the midst of weighing whether Trump is immune from the charges under a July Supreme Court decision.

Trump was also indicted on charges he unlawfully retained classified documents after leaving the White House. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the charges by ruling Smith was appointed illegitimately but he has appealed the decision to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Judge halts deadlines in Donald Trump election interference case