Schiff on Smith decision to dismiss Trump cases: 'A serious mistake'

Sen.-elect Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) called special counsel Jack Smith's decision to dismiss President-elect Trump's election subversion and classified documents cases a "serious mistake."

"I think this is a serious mistake by the department," Schiff told MSNBC's Jen Psaki, saying that while Smith sought to dismiss the cases without prejudice — meaning they can be brought against Trump once his term is over — it now means that the "status quo" is to not bring any charges against the president.

"But it is nevertheless a very serious distinction, because the status quo now is no charges against the president," Schiff, who served on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, continued. "You would have to upset that status quo to later bring charges again, as opposed to merely postponing the proceedings, in which case the presumption is they continue when he leaves office."

Schiff's remarks come as Smith announced Monday that he sought dismissal of the two federal cases against Trump on the longstanding view that a sitting president cannot be criminally prosecuted while in office. The decision follows a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that determined core presidential powers are immune from prosecution.

Schiff added that the "mistake" by Smith's team to pull the plug on the cases is compounded by a host of other concerns.

"It compounds the mistake that you alluded to, which is they waited a year before they even brought this case forward or began the investigation," the California Democrat told Psaki, President Biden's former press secretary. "And then you have the Supreme Court with this immunity decision."

"And now you have a potential nominee in Pam Bondi, who is saying she's going to prosecute the prosecutors," he continued, adding that "all of that goes against what Jack Smith said in his brief motion, which is that no one's above the law. So, we're hearing that phrase a lot, but we're not giving validity to it by these actions."

Trump still faces prosecution in two other cases.

First is the New York hush money case, where he was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a payment made to an adult film star during the 2016 election to buy her silence over an alleged affair. The case is in limbo after the president-elect won the election earlier this month and sentencing has been paused until after his second term concludes.

His other case, like the federal election interference case, is related to Trump and his allies' efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. This case, however, is tied to Georgia specifically and is also in jeopardy.

The Peach State trial has yet to begin due to pretrial wrangling, as Trump's team has sought to force the removal of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) — who brought the case against him — over allegations of misconduct.

The president-elect has also pressed for the dismissal of the hush money case.