Special counsel Jack Smith’s long-awaited report on Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case argues that the president-elect would’ve been convicted at trial had he not won the 2024 presidential election.
The 174-page report, obtained by multiple outlets Tuesday after lawyers for the incoming president failed to stop its release, outlines the investigative process Smith took in his case against Trump after being appointed special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland shortly after Trump launched his 2024 White House bid.
“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 delivered to Congress by the Justice Department just after midnight Tuesday after a last-ditch attempt by Trump’s legal team to block its release was rejected by South Florida US District Judge Aileen Cannon late Monday night.
It is one of two volumes put together by Smith detailing the federal investigations into Trump.
The second volume, which relates to the classified documents case dismissed by Cannon last July, has not been made public as Smith is still pursuing charges against Trump’s two former co-defendants in the case – Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira.
In a letter to Garland, included in the material transmitted to lawmakers, Smith directly takes aim at Trump’s claim that his charging decision was influenced by the Biden administration – calling it “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,” the prosecutor 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 added. “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 continued.
“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 hit back at Smith, slamming him as a “deranged” and “lamebrain” prosecutor in a Truth Social post after the report was released.
“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,” the president-elect wrote, referring to files the now-disbanded House Select Jan. 6 Committee deleted before Republicans gained control of the lower chamber 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 added.
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