US president-elect Donald Trump is celebrating another huge win after prosecutors moved to drop the election subversion case against him.

Lead counsel Jack Smith said the Justice Department would end its criminal pursuit of Trump for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Smith lodged legal paperwork on Tuesday (AEDT) seeking to have the case dismissed before Trump is inaugurated for his second term.

“The [Justice] Department’s position is that the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated,” Smith wrote in a legal filing.

“This outcome is not based on the merits or strength of the case against the defendant.”

Smith’s office also moved to end its attempt to revive the case accusing Trump of illegally retaining classified documents when he left office in 2021 after his first term as US president.

Smith had pursued Trump in two separate criminal cases, accusing him of threatening the integrity of the 2020 US election and not properly storing classified documents

Smith requested both cases be dismissed “without prejudice”, meaning the cases can be resurrected after Trump’s second term.

The latest move is a significant legal victory for Trump after his election win against Vice President Kamala Harris earlier this month.

Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said it was “a major victory for the rule of law”.

“The American People and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponisation of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country,” Cheung said.

Prosecutors acknowledged that the election of a US president who faced ongoing criminal cases created an unprecedented predicament for the Justice Department.

Trump pleaded not guilty in August 2023 to four federal charges accusing him of conspiring to obstruct the collection and certification of votes following his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump, who as president will again oversee the Justice Department, was expected to order an end to the federal 2020 election case and to Smith’s appeal in the documents case.

The Justice Department policy, dating back to the 1970s, holds that a criminal prosecution of a sitting president would violate the US Constitution by undermining the ability of the country’s chief executive to function.

Courts will still have to approve both requests from prosecutors.

Florida Judge Aileen Cannon, who Trump appointed to the federal bench, dismissed the classified documents case in July, ruling that Smith was improperly appointed to his role as special counsel.

-with AAP