The special counsel asked for time to assess how to proceed now that Donald Trump is returning the White House, triggering a Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.

Special counsel Jack Smith on Friday asked a federal judge to pause the ongoing legal proceedings against president-elect Donald Trump related to attempts to overturn the 2020 election, according to court documents.

A federal judge granted a request from special counsel Jack Smith on Friday to suspend deadlines in President-elect Trump’s election interference case. The move comes after Smith begun discussions with Justice Department officials earlier this week about how to wind down Trump’s federal criminal cases,

Special counsel Jack Smith referred to long-standing Justice Department policy that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted while in office.

Legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said that if special counsel Jack Smith were to talk publicly about President-elect Trump’s federal court cases, he “doubt[s] it would go so well for President Trump.” Smith currently has two cases against Trump: one for conspiring to overturn the 2020 election leading up to the Jan.

The Government respectfully requests that the Court vacate the remaining deadlines in the pretrial schedule,” Jack Smith wrote.

A federal judge granted a request by Special Counsel Jack Smith to pause the case against Donald Trump conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results.