Well, howdy there, Internet people, it's Bell again. So today, we're going to talk about Trump,

Smith, and what's next. Lots of questions have come in about this. The main point is whether or not

the news of the cases winding down is some kind of move to really keep things going. No, it isn't.

Longstanding policy over at DOJ is that a sitting president is not subject to further legal process. So they're really looking to wind it down.

There are three main and realistic options on how this happens. The first is that Smith

simply withdraws the charges. The next is that

he proceeds with the knowledge that the cases would not make it to trial before Trump takes office.

And the third is that he winds it down and publishes a report. For him to withdraw the charges,

he just does it. There isn't much to that. It's a quick

thing and all of the cases simply disappear. Proceeding until Trump takes office is something

that's within DOJ policy, but isn't likely to accomplish much other than forcing Trump and his new

attorney general to take a hand in

shutting down the case. There is some talk that Trump won't want to do that because of the optics.

That is the silliest talk I've heard. Trump actually said he'd fire smith given the opportunity.

So sure, there's a historical record. But the idea that it will

deter Trump from ending the cases is, to me, absurd. Of course he will. The last option is putting out

a report. It's relatively common for people in a similar position to Smith to publish a report

at the end of their time.

This would need the approval of Garland. This might be something they consider, but the devil is

in the details on this one. There would undoubtedly be internal debate over what goes in and what

doesn't, and then debate about whether it should be published.

Then we have to add the time it takes to prepare it. All of that would have to be completed

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