Special counsel report says Donald Trump faces enough evidence to convict in election case
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Donald Trump faces “sufficient” evidence in his trial for trying to overturn the results of the 2020 US presidential election, the special prosecutor overseeing the case against the president-elect said.
Jack Smith, who was appointed to oversee the federal case against Trump, filed two charges against the former president, including one accusing him of interfering with the results of the 2020 election won by Joe Biden.
After Trump won the 2024 election, Smith ultimately dismissed both lawsuits under a long-standing Justice Department policy prohibiting prosecutions of sitting presidents.
The view that a sitting president cannot face prosecution “is unequivocal and does not depend on the seriousness of the alleged crimes, the strength of the government’s evidence, or the merits of the prosecution, and the office fully supports this,” Smith wrote in his final report earlier Tuesday. A report on the case was released at that time.
“That’s true, but with Mr. Trump’s election and impending return to the presidency, [special counsel’s] The Office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.
The report is a blow to Trump, less than a week before he is sworn in on January 20.
After the release of the 137-page report, Trump, who has denied wrongdoing, called Smith a “dumb prosecutor who couldn’t try his case before the election, which I won in a landslide.”
The report concludes one of two historic cases that Smith led as special counsel, setting off a bitter legal battle in the run-up to the November presidential election and making Trump the first person to face federal criminal charges. Former President of the United States.
Another indictment concerns Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents after his first term as president.
Smith, who resigned from the Justice Department last week, stressed in the report that prosecuting Trump is critical to addressing “his tactics.” . . Threatening and encouraging violence against his perceived opponents”.
The indictment accuses the president-elect of inciting a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Prosecutors cited Trump’s online posts after the 2020 election that targeted election workers and former Vice President Mike Pence, whom Trump had pressured to overturn the results to no avail. .
On January 6, Trump launched a “retaliatory strike” against Pence after he became aware of the riot at the Capitol, which resulted in rioters targeting the vice president “out of anger and chanting.” . . “Hang Mike Pence!” the special prosecutor said.
Smith also criticized Trump for using his online influence to influence legal proceedings.
The president-elect’s “ability and willingness to use his influence and following on social media to target witnesses, courts, and department employees” is a “significant challenge” and calls for Smith’s office to “conduct time-consuming litigation to protect witnesses.” “Free from threats” and harassment, the special prosecutor said.
Smith believes the continuation of the election case could help clarify several aspects of last year’s Supreme Court ruling that granted the former president immunity from criminal prosecution for actions he took while in the White House.
The document released Tuesday contains half of Smith’s final findings. U.S. federal Judge Aileen Cannon blocked the Justice Department from sharing Smith’s report on the classified documents case, arguing that its release would affect proceedings against Trump aides and property managers.
Cannon, a Trump appointee, has dismissed the documents case against the president-elect and is scheduled to hold a hearing Friday on the Justice Department’s request to release a second volume of the report to select congressional committee leaders.
