It became evident following November's election that Special Counsel Jack Smith's prosecutorial efforts against President-elect Donald Trump were effectively ended by virtue of Trump's decisive electoral victory and the longstanding prohibition against prosecuting a sitting president.

Smith has now officially ended his involvement in the classified documents case against Trump with a motion filed to formally withdraw himself and his team and turn things over to other federal prosecutors, OANN reported.

The indictment against Trump had already been dismissed by a judge in July but Smith had appealed that decision, and criminal charges remain against two of Trump's employees who were alleged accomplices.

Smith withdraws his team from documents case

On Friday, Special Counsel Smith filed a motion to formally withdraw himself and five attorneys on his team from the remnants of the classified documents case, which has now been turned over to federal prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida.

To be sure, the case against President-elect Trump had been on life support in an appellate court since District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the charges against him in July, and was effectively killed for good with Trump's re-election in November.

However, federal charges remain pending against Trump's two co-defendants in the case, personal valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira, who are alleged to have helped Trump keep boxes of classified documents hidden at the property.

Those two men face charges of obstruction of justice, making false statements to investigators, and conspiring to conceal government records, and it will be up to federal prosecutors in South Florida to decide whether or not to continue pursuing those prosecutions.

Smith's team lawyering up amid fears of Trump's "retribution"

Meanwhile, Rolling Stone reported last week that, with President-elect Trump set to take office for his second term in less than a month, Special Counsel Smith and his team were getting ready to withstand Trump's purportedly imminent "retribution" against them.

For some, that includes preemptively lawyering up with defense attorneys or seeking out legal advice and financial assistance ahead of anticipated retaliatory investigations and prosecutions.

They appear to be taking seriously remarks made by Trump earlier in the year during the campaign, in which he mused, "The precedent on doing what they did, with the weaponization, using the DOJ and the FBI to go after their political opponents, that is so bad," and further opined, "Pandora’s Box is open and that means that I can do it too."

However, when questioned during a later interview about his supposed intent to seek revenge against those who'd waged lawfare against him, Trump suggested he'd exact vengeance in other ways and noted, "I said my retribution is going to be success."

The "hunters" are now the "hunted"

Breitbart also reported on the anonymously sourced news that Special Counsel Smith's team was lawyering up in preparation to defend themselves against President-elect Trump's incoming "retribution."

The outlet noted that, per independent journalist Julie Kelly, this supposed development signaled a role reversal of sorts, in that the prosecutor "hunters" would soon find themselves on the receiving end of being "hunted" by other federal investigators and prosecutors.

Whether Trump and his new Justice Department actually go after Smith and his team with probes and possible indictments, or simply let them slink away in disgrace, remains to be seen.