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Did trumps felonies get dropped
Executive summary
Some felony charges against Donald Trump were dropped in federal courts after his 2024 election victory, but state-level prosecutions and at least one conviction have had different trajectories; Special Counsel Jack Smith moved to dismiss the federal election-interference and classified-documents prosecutions in November 2024 and courts approved those dismissals [1] [2] [3]. New York’s 34-count hush-money conviction remained subject to appeals and other legal processes, and Georgia’s racketeering/election case saw different procedural developments that did not uniformly result in wholesale dismissal [4] [5] [6].
1. What was dropped in federal court — and why
Jack Smith, the Special Counsel, asked in November 2024 to drop both the federal election-obstruction case and the classified-documents appeal after Trump’s electoral victory; courts then dismissed those federal charges, a move Smith tied to longstanding Department of Justice policy against indicting a sitting president and to the practical reality of Trump’s new presidential immunity [2] [3] [1]. Reporting and legal summaries note that Smith’s office said it “stood fully behind” the merits of the evidence even as it moved to dismiss during the presidency, and some outlets emphasize the dismissals were filed “without prejudice,” meaning re-filing after Trump leaves office could be possible [7] [8].
2. The New York felony conviction: not simply “dropped”
Trump was convicted in New York in May 2024 on 34 counts related to falsifying business records in the hush-money case; that conviction led to sentencing and subsequent appeals, and has not been characterized in the sources as being simply dropped because of the federal dismissals [4] [9]. Media and legal analysis point to active appellate avenues that could affect that conviction — including efforts to move the case to federal court or to argue the Supreme Court’s rulings on presidential immunity affect evidence used at trial — but available sources do not say the 34 counts were universally dismissed as a direct result of his election [5] [9].
3. Georgia’s racketeering case: complicated handoffs and partial charge dismissals
The Fulton County racketeering indictment in Georgia underwent separate disruptions: Fani Willis was disqualified as prosecutor and the Georgia Court of Appeals and state Supreme Court made rulings that shifted who could prosecute; Pete Skandalakis later agreed to take on the role to try to keep the case alive [4] [6]. Some local rulings have resulted in specific counts being dropped by a judge — for example reports that three counts were dismissed at one point — but those developments are procedural and do not amount to one-step eradication of the full case against Trump [10] [6].
4. What “dropped” has meant legally — and what it does not mean politically
When Smith withdrew federal charges, he and subsequent reporting made a technical distinction: dropping “without prejudice” preserves the government’s theoretical ability to refile after Trump leaves office; legal commentators stress that dismissals tied to presidential immunity are distinct from findings on the sufficiency of evidence or guilt [7] [8]. Conversely, some outlets and commentators framed the end of federal prosecutions as a momentous legal end, while others emphasized it was contingent on Trump’s status as sitting president and on existing DOJ policy [1] [3].
5. Competing narratives and the risk of oversimplification
Narratives from different outlets diverge: some emphasize that “federal criminal cases ended” after Smith’s motions [1], while fact-checkers and detailed reports warn that not all counts or cases were dropped, and that state matters — especially New York and Georgia — remained active or contested [9] [4]. Readers should note the implicit agendas: outlets favoring a legal-finality framing may understate avenues for re-indictment or appeal, while others stressing ongoing vulnerability may underplay the immediate practical effect of presidential immunity [1] [7].
6. Bottom line for the question “did Trump’s felonies get dropped?”
Answering plainly: federal felony prosecutions by the Special Counsel were dropped or dismissed following Trump’s 2024 election and related DOJ motions [1] [2] [3]. However, the New York 34‑count felony conviction and Georgia state charges followed separate legal paths and were not uniformly “dropped” by those federal actions; appeals, motions to transfer or dismiss, and changes in local prosecutors continued to shape those outcomes [4] [5] [6]. Available sources do not claim a single, across-the-board erasure of all felony charges against Trump [9].