Special counsel Jack Smith’s highly anticipated report on Donald Trump’s alleged interference in the 2020 election suggests that had Trump not won the 2024 presidential election, he would have been convicted in a trial.
The 174-page report, which was made available to various media outlets on Tuesday after the incoming president’s legal team failed to prevent its release, outlines the investigation Smith led into Trump’s actions after being appointed special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland following Trump’s announcement of his 2024 presidential campaign.
“The department’s view that the Constitution prohibits the continued indictment and prosecution of a president is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the government’s proof or the merits of the prosecution, which the office stands fully behind,” Smith wrote in the report’s conclusion.
“Indeed, but for Mr. Trump’s election and imminent return to the presidency, the office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial,” he added.
The report was submitted to Congress by the Justice Department just after midnight on Tuesday, following the rejection of a last-minute attempt by Trump’s legal team to block its release by South Florida US District Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday evening.
This report is one of two volumes prepared by Smith, detailing the federal investigations into Trump.
The second volume, addressing the classified documents case that Cannon dismissed last July, has not yet been made public, as Smith continues to pursue charges against Trump’s two former co-defendants in that case—Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira.
In a letter to Garland, included in the materials sent to lawmakers, Smith directly responds to Trump’s assertion that his decision to charge was influenced by the Biden administration, calling the claim “laughable.”
“Throughout my service as Special Counsel, seeking to influence the election one way or the other, or seeking to interfere in its outcome, played no role in our work,” Smith wrote. “My Office had one north star: to follow the facts and law wherever they led. Nothing more and nothing less.”
“While I relied greatly on the counsel, judgment, and advice of our team, I want it to be clear that the ultimate decision to bring charges against Mr. Trump was mine,” Smith continued. “It is a decision I stand behind fully.”
“It is equally important for me to make clear that nobody within the Department of Justice ever sought to interfere with, or improperly influence, my prosecutorial decision making,” the special counsel added.
“And to all who know me well, 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 by attacking Smith, labeling him a “deranged” and “lamebrain” prosecutor in a Truth Social post following the release of the report.
“Deranged Jack Smith was unable to successfully prosecute the Political Opponent of his ‘boss,’ Crooked Joe Biden, so he ends up writing yet another ‘Report’ based on information that the Unselect Committee of Political Hacks and Thugs ILLEGALLY DESTROYED AND DELETED, because it showed how totally innocent I was, and how completely guilty Nancy Pelosi, and others, were,” Trump wrote, referring to files that the now-defunct House Select Jan. 6 Committee deleted before Republicans took control of the House in 2023.
“Jack is a lamebrain prosecutor who was unable to get his case tried before the Election, which I won in a landslide. THE VOTERS HAVE SPOKEN!!!” Trump concluded.
{Matzav.com}