DOJ moving to close down criminal cases against Trump before inauguration: Report

Justice Department officials are moving to "wind down" the two federal criminal cases against President-elect Donald Trump to comply with agency policy against prosecuting a sitting president. 

NBC News reported exclusively that the DOJ sees no avenue to hold trials soon for the two cases brought by special counsel Jack Smith, one for alleged efforts by to overturn the 2020 election and another for allegedly mishandling classified documents. 

In both cases, Trump's legal team has many opportunities to file appeals which would further delay any trials and could end up in the hands of the Supreme Court. 

Inauguration Day in January 2025 presents a hard deadline for the DOJ which developed a policy in the wake of Watergate against prosecuting a sitting president. 

Smith's prosecutors carried out a flurry of activity just before the election, filing a retooled case against the president that argued the merits of maintaining the charges in light of the Supreme Court's decision earlier this year on presidential immunity. 

The special counsel also filed a rebuttal to arguments from the Trump legal team that his appointment was unconstitutional.