ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Here in Washington, politicians often say elections have consequences. Well, we are starting to see some of those today inside the Justice Department. The special counsel who brought two indictments against Donald Trump is starting to wind down those cases. NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson is here to explain. Hi, Carrie.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE: Hey, Ari.

SHAPIRO: It has not even been a full day since the election was called for Donald Trump, and already, the DOJ is taking action. What's happening?

JOHNSON: Jack Smith, the prosecutor who's been on the job for about two years, is now starting to unwind what may be his most significant work. Remember, Smith brought two indictments against Donald Trump, the first for clinging to power in 2020, events that culminated in the storming of the U.S. Capitol. The second was for hoarding classified documents and obstructing FBI efforts to retrieve them.

This is all happening now because of long-standing Justice Department policy that says a sitting president cannot be indicted or tried on criminal charges. The thinking here is that would violate the Constitution and interfere with the working of the executive branch.

SHAPIRO: Trump doesn't actually take office until January, so how quickly might these two cases go away?

JOHNSON: Well, the D.C. case had been on pause for many months because of the Supreme Court's decision to evaluate whether Trump and future presidents enjoy some immunity from prosecution. In July, the Supreme Court said Trump had absolute immunity for certain core acts as president. And the justices also leaned into the idea Trump had legal protection for other official acts. Prosecutors had just moved to try to convince the district court judge that Trump was acting as a candidate in 2020, not as the president, so he should be able to be prosecuted. But it's my understanding that soon those efforts will stop, and it will be up to Judge Tanya Chutkan to formally dismiss this D.C. case.

SHAPIRO: So that's the D.C. election-related case. What about the Florida documents case?

JOHNSON: That one is both a little easier and a little more complicated in some ways, sorry. Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed by President Trump, dismissed that prosecution last summer on the same day the Republican Convention started. The judge said Jack Smith had been appointed in an unconstitutional way. The Justice Department has been appealing, but it's now expected to try to abandon the appeal.

Here's the complication. Two other people were charged alongside Trump - Walt Nauta, who's Trump's valet, and Carlos De Oliveira, the property manager at Mar-a-Lago. And to walk away from the case could mean walking away from all three of them.

SHAPIRO: Any sense of what this move by the Justice Department might signal for the criminal cases that states filed against the President-elect?

JOHNSON: Steve Scalise, the Republican majority leader of the House, said prosecutors in Georgia and New York should also go away, he posted on X today. The American people have spoken, and this lawfare must end. Other Republican lawyers told me today, voters clearly knew about all these allegations against Trump, but they voted for him anyway. They say it's time to move on and let the incoming administration prepare to lead the government.

The judge in that state case in New York had tentatively scheduled a sentencing for Trump for Thanksgiving week after a jury there convicted him this year on 34 charges, but that sentencing may not happen now.

SHAPIRO: OK. So big picture, this year started with Trump facing four separate criminal prosecutions across four different states, and despite his having been convicted of those felony counts in New York, it looks like all of this will end with nothing?

JOHNSON: You know, it's hard not to see this as a sweeping victory for Donald Trump and his legal strategy of delaying most of these cases until after the election. We learned a lot from these federal indictments and Trump's trial in New York. But the Supreme Court has said the president is different. The rest of the legal system is now falling in line. The big question for me is whether the special counsel, Jack Smith, wants to file a written report before he leaves his job.

SHAPIRO: NPR's Carrie Johnson. Thank you.

JOHNSON: My pleasure. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.