Washington DC - Special Counsel Jack Smith on Monday moved to dismiss the case against President-elect Donald Trump for allegedly conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Joe Biden.

Smith, in a filing with the judge in Washington presiding over the historic case, said it should be dropped in light of a long-standing Justice Department policy not to prosecute a sitting president.

The special counsel asked District Judge Tanya Chutkan to dismiss the case "without prejudice" – leaving open the possibility it could be revived after Trump leaves office four years from now.

Smith paused the election interference case earlier this month after Trump defeated Kamala Harris in the November 5 presidential election.

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"The Government's position on the merits of the defendant's prosecution has not changed," Smith said in the filing with Chutkan. "But the circumstances have."

"It has long been the position of the Department of Justice that the United States Constitution forbids the federal indictment and subsequent criminal prosecution of a sitting President," Smith said.

"As a result, this prosecution must be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated."

Trump's communications director, Steven Cheung, welcomed the move to dismiss the case, calling it a "major victory for the rule of law."

"The American People and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system, and we look forward to uniting our country," Cheung said in a statement.

Trump is accused of conspiracy to defraud the US and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding – the session of Congress called to certify Biden's win, which was violently attacked on January 6, 2021, by a mob of the then-president's supporters.

Trump is also accused of seeking to disenfranchise US voters with his false claims that he won the 2020 election.

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Smith charged Trump with mishandling top secret documents after leaving the White House, but that case was tossed out by a federal judge in Florida, a Trump appointee, on the grounds that Smith was unlawfully appointed. Smith had appealed that dismissal but is now expected to drop the appeal.

Trump also faces two state cases – in New York and Georgia.

He was convicted in New York in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election to stop her from revealing an alleged 2006 sexual encounter.

Judge Juan Merchan has postponed sentencing while he considers a request from Trump's lawyers that the conviction be thrown out in light of the Supreme Court ruling in July that an ex-president has broad immunity from prosecution.

In Georgia, Trump faces racketeering charges over his efforts to subvert the 2020 election results in the southern state, but that case will likely be frozen while he is in office under the policy of not prosecuting a sitting president.

Smith has also dropped the case against Trump for mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House.

He said he was withdrawing his appeal of a ruling by a district judge, a Trump appointee, who dismissed the case earlier this year.

He again said the move was being made under the Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president.