Takeaways from Trump’s victories over special counsel Jack Smith
CNN
The special counsel stressed his decision was not about the strength of his case against Trump
Even before special counsel Jack Smith formally asked that his criminal cases against Donald Trump be dismissed, it was already guaranteed the president-elect would never see a jury. Smith on Monday dropped both the 2020 election subversion prosecution against Trump and the charges accusing Trump of mishandling classified documents. The special counsel stressed his decision was not about the strength of his case against Trump, but his reasoning hung on the Justice Department’s long-held belief that the Constitution prohibits prosecutions against sitting presidents. Even if prosecutors had believed that they could have kept the cases on life support into the second Trump presidency, the president-elect had already indicated that he planned to fire Smith and his team, a vow that breached the usual norms surrounding a special counsel investigation. Trump’s reelection this month was the straw that broke the back of a camel that had been buckling under slow-walking courts and novel legal arguments. Smith’s filings suggested he could bring the charges again, though Trump may seek to foreclose that possibility by pardoning himself – an unprecedented move. Also looming over Trump’s second term is the Republican’s promises to go after those who prosecuted him, a vow echoed by his pick for attorney general.
After 45 years, authorities in California were finally able to tell the Gonzalez family who they believe killed their loved one. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office used DNA and forensic genealogy to identify the suspected killer, who turned out to be the same man who reported finding Esther Gonzalez’s body to authorities.
The Rev. William Barber, the prominent Black spiritual leader who supported Kamala Harris, suggests a way forward for left-leaning Americans who are struggling in the wake of the election.
Republicans avoided a confirmation firestorm when former Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration as attorney general, but lawmakers on Capitol Hill are already bracing for how they’ll navigate the next slew of unorthodox Trump picks — and they have warned the president-elect’s choice to lead the Pentagon, who faces controversy over his past comments and history, that the confirmation process is a long and invasive process.
For more on Sherrod Brown’s Senate defeat, watch CNN’s “Inside Politics Sunday with Manu Raju” this Sunday at 8 a.m. ET and 11 a.m ET.
Fred Harris, a former U.S. senator from Oklahoma, presidential hopeful and populist who championed Democratic Party reforms in the turbulent 1960s, died Saturday. He was 94.
A Florida deputy has been found not guilty of culpable negligence more than two years after being accused of deploying his Taser on a suspect at a gas station resulting in an explosion that left the man with burns over much of his body.
Six members of the opposition are taking refuge in the embassy, having fled there to escape a crackdown by Venezuelan authorities in the run-up to July’s presidential elections.
The police chief in a small town in central Mexico took his own life Friday as troops closed in to arrest him as part of anticorruption raids that also detained several other top police commanders and a mayor in other towns.
Public schools in Texas now have the option to use a new, state-written curriculum infused with Bible stories after the state’s school board voted in favor of the material on Friday.
President-elect Donald Trump is now expected to name one of his former policy advisers, Brooke Rollins, as his pick for secretary of the Department of Agriculture, three sources familiar with the discussions told CNN.
With his new pick for attorney general, President-elect Donald Trump has found not only a powerhouse media strategist and loyal ally, but a tenacious litigator known for her battles in court for conservative causes.