[The Hill] Former Attorney General Bill Barr encouraged prosecutors to drop pending charges against President-elect Trump, saying the public "have rendered their verdict.""The American people have rendered their verdict on President Trump, and decisively chosen him to lead the country for the next four years," Barr said in an interview with Fox News, after the White House race was called for Trump.
"They did that with full knowledge of the claims against him by prosecutors around the country and I think Attorney General Garland and the state prosecutors should respect the people’s decision and dismiss the cases against President Trump now," he added.
Trump was convicted in New York on 34 felony charges related to hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels and still faces indictments in three other trials. His actions to block the peaceful transfer of power after his 2020 loss sparked federal charges as well as a case in Georgia, while the former president also faced federal counts for retaining classified documents at his Florida estate, before the case was indefinitely postponed by the judge.
Trump is set to face sentencing in the New York case later this month but has also sought to toss the case after the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents retain broad immunity after leaving office.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) under a second Trump administration is widely expected to move to drop both federal cases against the president-elect.
The GOP presidential nominee also pledged to fire special counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the election interference cases, "within two seconds."