Washington, D.C. – In a report published on Tuesday, U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith concluded that former President Donald Trump engaged in an “unprecedented criminal effort” to retain power after losing the 2020 election to President-elect Joe Biden. Smith’s investigation culminated in a four-count indictment accusing Trump of plotting to obstruct the collection and certification of electoral votes.
According to the report, sufficient evidence existed to convict Trump at trial. However, the imminent inauguration of the president-elect on January 20 made proceeding with the trial impossible. Smith noted, “The claim from Mr. Trump that my decisions as a prosecutor were influenced or directed by the Biden administration or other political actors is, in a word, laughable.”
Trump responded on his Truth Social platform, calling Smith a “lamebrain prosecutor who was unable to get his case tried before the election.” In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland released by the Justice Department, Trump’s lawyers labeled the report a “politically motivated attack” and argued that its publication would harm the presidential transition.
While much of the evidence had been previously disclosed, the report unveiled that prosecutors considered charging Trump under the Insurrection Act for allegedly inciting the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Ultimately, they decided against it due to legal risks and insufficient evidence that Trump intended the “full scope” of the ensuing violence by his supporters attempting to halt the certification of election results.
The indictment charged Trump with conspiring to obstruct the election certification, defraud the United States of accurate election outcomes, and deprive voters of their rights. Although Smith’s team contemplated charges against co-conspirators who assisted in the plan, the report stated that no final conclusions were reached regarding these individuals.
A second section of the report addresses allegations that Trump unlawfully retained sensitive national security documents after departing the White House in 2021. The Justice Department has withheld this portion from public release pending ongoing legal proceedings against two of Trump’s associates implicated in the case.
Smith, who left the Justice Department last week, explained that both cases against Trump were dropped following his victory in last year’s election, citing a longstanding policy against prosecuting a sitting president. As a result, neither case proceeded to trial.
Consistently pleading not guilty to all charges, Trump has frequently criticized Smith, describing the investigations as politically motivated attempts to undermine his campaign. With his return to office scheduled for January 20, Trump and his former co-defendants sought to block the report’s release, but courts rejected their efforts to prevent its publication.
Reference(s):
Trump engaged in 'criminal effort' to overturn 2020 election: report
cgtn.com
