Special Counsel Jack Smith Says Trump Would’ve Been Convicted For Role In Jan. 6 If He Hadn’t Be Re-elected, Encouraged Violence Against ‘Opponents’

The final report of Special Counsel Jack Smith‘s investigation into Donald Trump‘s 2020 election interference was released early on Tuesday morning. It contains evidence that would have been sufficient to convict Trump in a trial, Smith said.

After presiding over the trial on four felony charges against Trump tied to the 2020 presidential election, Florida district Judge Aileen Cannon denied a motion by Trump’s former co-defendants who sought to block the release allowing the report’s release by the Department of Justice.

The 137-page report details Trump and his associates’ actions to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power on Jan. 6, 2021, before the certification of the election by Congress. The president-elect’s victory in the 2024 election has made it impossible for any such prosecution to continue. In December, Smith formally asked for the charges to be dropped.

The report on Trump’s other federal case, accusing him of mishandling classified documents, remains confidential.

“As set forth in the original and superseding indictments, when it became clear that Mr. Trump had lost the election and that lawful means of challenging the election results had failed, he resorted to a series of criminal efforts to retain power,” the report states.

Trump’s legal team was able to delay the report’s release ahead of his inauguration on Jan. 20. The temporary hold on the documents was released at midnight on Tuesday, allowing Attorney General Merrick Garland to submit the report to Congress on Tuesday morning.

The report also details that, along with his efforts to reverse the results of a fair election, Trump also encouraged “violence against his perceived opponents” during the time between Election Day and Jan. 6, 2021. Smith said Trump is responsible for the attack on the Capitol when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and injured over 140 police officers.

Smith found that in several cases where people were charged for participating in the riot believed they were acting on Trump’s behalf. Additional footnotes by Smith detail the violence that the Capitol Police Officers experienced.

Officers attested that efforts to prevent rioters from advancing the Capitol could have meant “possible death” and that they were not confident that staff or congressmen could have survived the rioters’ actions.

Trump has vowed to pardon many Jan. 6 defendants, which could include those who engaged in violence.

Trump and associates have argued that Smith’s appointment to the case was “unlawful” and that a public report would interfere with his transition into the White House. Trump had threatened to fire Smith once he was inaugurated on Jan. 20.

After submitting his report on Jan. 7, Smith resigned from the Department of Justice on Jan. 10.

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Article by Angie Schlager