Donald Trump “resorted to crimes” in his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results, according to prosecutors in a recent court filing arguing that the former president is not immune to charges. Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the election interference case against Trump, submitted the filing, which was publicly released on Wednesday.
The filing counters Trump’s assertion that he is shielded by a landmark Supreme Court ruling this summer that grants broad immunity from prosecution for actions taken while in office. With no trial expected before Trump, a Republican, competes against Democratic rival Kamala Harris for the presidency next month, the 165-page court document may be the last opportunity for prosecutors to present their case.
In the filing, prosecutors claim that Trump was not always acting in an official capacity but was instead involved in a “private criminal effort” to overturn the 2020 election results. This document seeks to advance the criminal case against Trump in light of the Supreme Court ruling in July, which led prosecutors to refine their indictment.
The ruling specified that immunity does not apply to unofficial acts, prompting prosecutors to argue that while Trump was still in office, some of his alleged attempts to reverse the election outcome were tied to his campaign and his role as a private citizen.
The court should “determine that the defendant must stand trial for his private crimes as he would any other citizen,” Mr. Smith asserted in the filing. The case has faced multiple delays since the Department of Justice filed charges over a year ago, accusing Trump of attempting to illegally obstruct the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory—a claim he denies.
The filing also highlights several instances where Trump’s Vice President, Mike Pence, expressed skepticism about Trump’s claims of voter fraud and attempted to persuade him to acknowledge his election loss.
In the court document, prosecutors allege that Trump was unfazed upon learning that his vice president had been rushed to a secure location as rioters breached the Capitol on January 6, 2021. “So what?” he reportedly said when informed about the unfolding chaos.
Pence later spoke out regarding his rift with Trump following the Capitol storming, especially after some rioters chanted, “Hang Mike Pence,” due to his refusal to obstruct the certification of election results. Trump’s legal team attempted to keep the recent filing sealed, with campaign spokesman Steven Cheung calling it “falsehood-ridden” and “unconstitutional.”
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday, Trump labeled it a “hit job” and claimed it “should not have been released right before the election,” accusing prosecutors of “egregious” misconduct.
The filing introduces new evidence and provides the clearest outline yet of how prosecutors plan to present their case against Trump at trial. It claims he always intended to declare victory regardless of the election outcome and laid the groundwork for this long before election day. Furthermore, it accuses him of knowingly disseminating false claims about the election results, which he himself deemed “crazy.”
Mr. Smith also included several new details regarding the Trump campaign’s alleged attempts to create chaos in battleground states, particularly as a significant number of mail-in ballots were being counted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Detroit, Michigan—a Democratic stronghold—when a substantial batch of ballots appeared to favor Biden, a Trump campaign operative allegedly instructed a colleague to “find a reason” to challenge the ballots in order to provide “options to file litigation.”
The filing also asserts that Trump and his allies, including lawyer Rudy Giuliani, aimed to “exploit the violence and chaos at the Capitol” on January 6, 2021, to delay the election certification. They allegedly did this by contacting senators and leaving voicemails urging them to object to the state electors.
On Wednesday, Trump declared that the case would conclude with his “complete victory.” A trial date has yet to be established.
