Special counsel Jack Smith stands down in Trump classified docs case, asks court to halt appeal | 13 Nov 2024 | Special counsel Jack Smith asked a federal appellate court on Wednesday to halt his appeal in President-elect Donald Trump's classified documents case, citing the results of the 2024 election. "As a result of the election held on November 5, 2024, one of the defendants in this case, Donald J. Trump, is expected to be certified as President-elect on January 6, 2025, and inaugurated on January 20, 2025," Smith wrote to the Atlanta-based 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals. The filing comes after US District Judge Tanya Chutkan froze Smith's 2020 election interference case against Trump last week, following the prosecutors' request for a pause in court filing deadlines. Multiple reports indicate that the Justice Department intends to wind down all pending litigation against the 45th president in light of his Election Day victory last week. The New York Times reported that Smith is scrambling to finalize what is left of his work so he can retire before Trump takes office in January and assuredly fires him.