The special counsel asked for time to assess how to proceed now that Donald Trump is returning the White House, triggering a Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
Jack Smith has not made a similar request to pause efforts to revive the other federal case he pursued against Donald J. Trump, in which he was accused of illegally holding on to classified documents after he left office.
The president-elect said during the campaign that he would grant clemency to some of those who took part in the assault by his supporters on the Capitol nearly four years ago.
By triumphing at the ballot box, Donald Trump can dispense with federal charges against him while postponing or derailing other pending cases that have dogged him.
Former President Donald J. Trump at his criminal trial in New York in May. It was the only one of his four criminal cases to be tried before the election.
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