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Donald Trump had “sufficient” evidence to have been convicted at his trial of trying to overturn the result of the 2020 US presidential election, according to the special prosecutor who led the case against the president-elect.
Jack Smith, who was appointed to oversee federal cases against Trump, made two sets of accusations against the former president, one of whom accused him of interfering with the outcome of the 2020 election won by Joe Biden.
Smith finally proposed to dismiss both proceedings followed Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, based on a longstanding Justice Department policy that bars prosecutions of sitting presidents.
The view that sitting presidents cannot be subject to prosecution “is categorical and does not depend on the seriousness of the crimes charged, the strength of the government’s evidence, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Office fully supports,” Smith wrote in a final conclusion. report on the case released early Tuesday.
“Indeed, without the election of Mr. Trump and his imminent return to the presidency, the [special counsel’s] The office found that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and maintain a conviction at trial,” Smith added.
The report is a blow to Asset less than a week before his swearing in on January 20.
Following the release of 137 page reportTrump, who has denied any wrongdoing, called Smith “a lame prosecutor who couldn’t get his case tried before the election, which I won in a landslide.”
The report ends one of two landmark cases led by Smith as special prosecutor, which sparked a bitter legal battle in the run-up to the November presidential election and made Trump the first former U.S. president to face federal criminal charges.
The other indictment related to Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents after the end of his first term as president.
In the report, Smith, who resigned from the Department of Justice Last week, he stressed that the prosecution of Trump was essential to meeting “his appeal.” . . threats and incitement to violence against his alleged opponents.
The indictment accuses the president-elect of inciting a mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump’s “words inspired his supporters to commit acts of physical violence,” Smith said.
The prosecutor cited Trump’s online posts after the 2020 election, which targeted election workers as well as former Vice President Mike Pence, whom Trump urged to overturn the election result, to no avail.
Trump’s “punitive targeting” of Pence on Jan. 6 — despite knowing about the unrest at the Capitol — led rioters to target the vice president “for his anger and chanting….” . . “Hang Mike Pence!” “, said the special prosecutor.
Smith also criticized Trump for using his online presence to affect court proceedings.
The President-elect’s “ability and willingness to use his influence and social media following to target witnesses, courts, and department employees” posed a “significant challenge” and required Smith’s office to ” to engage in tedious legal procedures to protect witnesses from threats.” and harassment,” the special prosecutor said.
Smith argued that pursuing the election case could have helped clarify several aspects of a Supreme Court ruling issued last year. granted immunity to former presidents of criminal prosecution for actions taken while he was in the White House.
The document released Tuesday included half of Smith’s final conclusions. US federal judge Aileen Cannon blocked the Justice Department from sharing Smith’s report on the classified documents affair, on the grounds that its release would influence proceedings against a Trump aide and property manager.
Cannon, a Trump appointee who already dismissed the documents case against the president-elect, scheduled a hearing Friday on the DoJ’s request to turn over the second volume of the report to the leaders of specific congressional committees.
