Trump's Mishandling of Classified Documents Case Dropped

An appeals court on Tuesday granted a request by prosecutors to drop the case against former President Donald Trump for mishandling classified documents. This decision came after Special Counsel Jack Smith requested the dismissal on Monday, citing a long-standing Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president.

The case originated from a Trump-appointed district court judge in Florida who threw out the documents case earlier this year. Smith appealed the ruling to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ultimately granted his request to dismiss the case without comment.

Despite the dismissal, Smith continues to pursue the case against Trump's two co-defendants, his valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira.

Trump, 78, was accused of removing large quantities of top secret documents after leaving the White House at the end of his first term and obstructing efforts to retrieve them. He was also accused by the special counsel of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election won by Joe Biden. A judge on Monday granted a request by Smith to drop that case as well.

The special counsel paused both federal cases this month after Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the November 5 presidential election.

In addition to the federal cases, Trump faces two state cases in New York and Georgia. He was convicted in New York in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election. Judge Juan Merchan has postponed sentencing while he considers a request from Trump's lawyers that the conviction be thrown out in light of the Supreme Court ruling in July that an ex-president has broad immunity from prosecution.

In Georgia, Trump faces racketeering charges over his efforts to subvert the 2020 election results in the southern state. However, this case will likely be frozen while he is in office.