The full report of the American special prosecutor responsible for the investigation into Donald Trump (2017-2021) on the case of the assault on the Capitol was made public this Wednesday by Justice and brings new evidence of “criminal” conduct in which, he concludes, the former US president engaged in a “desperate” attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
“Working with a team of private conspirators, the defendant acted as a candidate when he used multiple criminal means to disrupt, through fraud and deception, the governmental function by which votes are collected and counted, function in “which the accused, as president, had no official role,” his motion states.
The judge leading this process in Washington, DC, Tanya Chutkan, had authorized the prosecutor’s office to release new evidence on September 5 and her order opened the door for it to be made public before the presidential elections on November 5, in in which Trump is a candidate.
The document, signed by Jack Smithis 165 pages long and attempts to dismantle the argument that Trump enjoyed presidential immunity and, on the contrary, he claims to have acted in a private capacity.
“Although he was serving president during the reported plots, “His plan was fundamentally private.”says the text, according to which none of Trump’s actions at that time were immune from possible prosecution, either because they were unofficial or because any alleged immunity is refuted.
When Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020, according to the prosecutor, he “turned to crimes in an attempt to stay in power.”
“With private accomplices, he launched a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results in seven states he had lost: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.” These efforts, Smith added, were aimed at “deception”.
The prosecutor concludes without question that his plan to remain in the White House was “a private criminal effort.”
Whether he acted as a candidate or president at that time is a key question in this case: on July 1, the Supreme Court granted him partial immunity, ruling that “a former president is entitled to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for acts falling within its jurisdiction.” constitutional authority”, but not for these “unofficial” acts.
Some of the allegations are hidden because they are shrouded in secrecy, but they show Trump as responsible for the attack on the Capitolclaiming he lied to incite a “large and angry” crowd to come to that building and disrupt the vote count.
On January 6, about 10,000 people – mostly Trump supporters – marched to the headquarters of Congress and about 800 people broke into the building as Biden’s victory in that election was being certified. There were a total of five deaths and around 140 police officers injured.
Trump is accused of conspiring to overturn results elections, which ended with this assault. After the Supreme Court’s decision, Smith remade his accusation to comply with it and presented previously unseen evidence on Wednesday.
This new document ensures that Trump acted as a candidate and not as president in his interactions with state officials, in his speeches and messages in X or when speaking to White House staff.
The Supreme Court ruled in July that its interactions with then-Vice President Mike Pencewere considered official conduct, but Smith points out that in talking about his role in the vote certification process, we have entered into an issue in which the executive branch has no direct role.
Trump’s team had tried to avoid the release of new evidence ahead of the November election, in which the former president faces Vice President Kamala Harris, who leads him in voting intentions.
