The Department of Justice may now hold off making any decision on whether to criminally charge Donald Trump until after the midterms in order to abide by the so-called “60 day rule.”
While the 60 day rule is not official legislation, there is a long running tradition that the Department of Justice will avoid making any decisions that could affect how people vote so close to an upcoming election or elections.
As of Saturday, the November 8 midterms are now 59 days away, meaning that if the DOJ chooses to follow the informal guidance they must wait to make, or announce, a decision to charge Trump until after the elections.
However, Jack Goldsmith, a Harvard Law School professor and former head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, noted that the 60 day rule is an “unwritten rule of uncertain scope” and that “it’s not at all clear that it applies to taking investigative steps against a noncandidate former president who is nevertheless intimately involved in the November election.”
“But its purpose of avoiding any significant impact on an election seems to be implicated,” Garland told The New York Times.
DOJ Unlikely to Charge Trump Before Midterms as Unofficial Deadline Passes (newsweek.com)