Jessica A. Roth: What happens to Jack Smith and the cases against Donald Trump?

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

47% : But from a rule of law perspective, leaving the door open to potential future prosecution, even if it is largely symbolic, is preferable to giving Trump a pass for all time.
38% : Second, dismissing the charges now, while Smith can seek a dismissal without prejudice, allows for the possibility that they could be reinstated at a future date after Trump leaves office.
38% : The top Department of Justice officials did so at the end of the first Trump administration when they threatened to resign en masse if necessary to prevent Trump from using the department to further his scheme to overturn the 2020 election.Smith voluntarily conforming to long-standing DOJ policy before anyone makes him would be in the finest tradition of the office.
32% : Trump has damaged these norms immeasurably, but that does not mean that others in public service must follow suit.
29% : Why would Smith do that, rather than insist that Trump fire him and take the political heat for doing so?
27% : The evidence would be stale, the public might be fatigued and Trump would be at least 82 years old.
20% : Given the reporting, it seems likely that Smith will seek to dismiss the charges against Trump and resign his office before Trump is sworn in as president in January.
20% : Just as Vice President Kamala Harris conceded the election to Trump once the results were in, and President Joe Biden invited Trump to the White House to begin the transition, Smith could set a powerful example of how leaders act when they feel themselves to be constrained by traditions and values that go beyond raw political will or even the hard requirements of law.
18% : Under Department of Justice policy, the cases cannot proceed against Trump while he is in office, but Smith could leave it to Trump and his attorney general to dismiss the charges rather than doing so in advance.
16% : That report provides Smith with one last opportunity to provide the American people, and posterity, with a detailed account of Trump's alleged crimes and to explain why he was unable to bring them to trial, which has nothing to do with the merits of the case and everything to do with Trump running out the clock.

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