Donald Trump's criminal cases could be dropped after election win

Two of Donald Trump’s pending criminal cases have been thrown into doubt, following his latest victory over Kamala Harris.

Trump was charged last year of trying to overturn the 2020 election results and of illegally storing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.

But prosecutors are now said to be considering whether to drop the cases before Trump takes office in January. A judge overseeing the 2020 election case cancelled all remaining court deadlines.

It is because of a longstanding policy that restricts the US Justice Department from prosecuting sitting presidents, a source told the Associated Press.

Trump has criticised both cases as politically motivated and warned he would fire the prosecutor, Special Council Jack Smith, “within two seconds” of taking office.

On Friday, Smith’s team asked to cancel any upcoming court deadlines on the 2020 election case, saying it needs “time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward” in line with Justice Department policy.

A district judge granted the request and ordered the team to come up with its “proposed course for this case” by December 2.

Rioters storm the West Front of the US Capitol January 2021. / Credit: PA

Trump was set to stand trial in March in Washington, where more than 1,000 of his supporters were convicted for their roles in the January 6 Capitol riots.

However, his case was paused as Trump pursued claims of immunity from prosecution, which were eventually brought before the US Supreme Court.

In July, the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution.

Meanwhile, now-unsealed documents from the Justice Department show the FBI thwarted an alleged Iranian plot to kill Trump the week before the presidential election.

A criminal complaint was filed in federal court alleging that an unnamed official from Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard instructed a contact to put together a plan to surveil and ultimately kill Trump.

If the man, identified as Farjad Shakeri, was unable to create a plan by then, the official told him Iran would pause its plan until after the presidential election because the official believed Trump would lose and it would be easier to assassinate him then.

Shakeri told investigators that a contact in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard instructed him this past September.

Two other men who the authorities say were recruited to participate in other assassinations, including a prominent Iranian American journalist, were also arrested Friday. Shakeri remains in Iran.