JUST IN: Jack Smith Report Insists Evidence Against Trump ‘Sufficient’ for Conviction If Not for 2024 Victory
President-elect Donald Trump’s re-election in 2024 prevented his conviction for crimes tied to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, according to special counsel Jack Smith’s newly released report.
The Justice Department unveiled the 137-page document early Tuesday, obtained by the New York Times, and offered a detailed look at Trump’s actions following his 2020 loss.
“When it became clear that 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,” Smith wrote.
Smith, appointed to investigate Trump’s efforts to subvert democracy after the January 6 Capitol riot of 2021, concluded that “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.”
The report underscored the Justice Department’s stance on presidential immunity, which halted Trump’s prosecution.
“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,” Smith wrote.
The investigation detailed Trump’s pressure on state officials, the assembly of alternate electors, and his encouragement of protests against election results. Smith’s report highlighted Trump’s reliance on “demonstrably and, in many cases, obviously false” claims about election fraud.
While Trump was impeached and later indicted on four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S., he pleaded not guilty to all charges. The report reveals that prosecutors considered invoking the Insurrection Act but ultimately declined due to insufficient evidence of Trump’s intent regarding the January 6 violence.
Trump responded to the report on Truth Social, labeling Smith a “lamebrain prosecutor” and framing the investigation as a political attack.
Smith’s office maintained that their investigation followed the facts and law. “My office had one north star: to follow the facts and law wherever they led. Nothing more and nothing less,” he asserted, dismissing accusations of political bias.
He added: “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.”
A second section of the report, detailing Trump’s alleged mishandling of sensitive national security documents, remains sealed pending ongoing legal proceedings against two Trump associates.
