A report by Special Counsel Jack Smith released Tuesday detailed the prosecutor’s rationale behind the election interference prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump. Released nearly two months after Trump’s federal charges were dropped, Smith’s report explained various decisions made during the prosecution effort and detailed its trajectory before ending due to Trump’s 2024 election victory.
Smith justified the decision to prosecute Trump for election interference by describing the national interest in ensuring legitimate presidential elections and peaceful transitions of power, noting that these “command protection from Mr. Trump’s criminal design to subvert them.” The special prosecutor accused Trump of knowingly floating false claims of election fraud after the 2020 presidential race to subvert the democratic process, resulting in the January 6, 2021 Capitol Attack. Additionally, Smith highlighted the January 6 assaults on Capitol Police officers and threats faced by election workers following false claims from Trump as reasons for bringing charges, saying that the President-elect’s conduct was unprecedented in US history.
The special counsel also stated that his office assiduously followed Justice Department policies regarding prosecutions during election years to minimize any effect on election outcomes. Smith said charges against Trump were fast-tracked in 2023 to ensure that indictments would be returned more than a year ahead of the 2024 election.
The US Constitution prohibits the prosecution of a sitting president, according to the Justice Department. Even though Smith sought to have Trump’s federal cases dismissed, he relayed that “the Office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.”
In his letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Smith took full responsibility for the decision to charge Trump, adding, “To have done otherwise on the facts developed during our work would have been to shirk my duties as a prosecutor and a public servant.” Smith also flatly denied allegations that the prosecution was orchestrated by sitting president Joe Biden. “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,” Smith wrote.
Trump lambasted Smith’s report on Truth Social, writing:
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. 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!!!
The president-elect’s legal team worked to prevent the release of this report, but on Monday, Judge Aileen Cannon, who oversaw Trump’s classified documents criminal case, allowed its partial release. The report was circulated without its second part, which details the prosecution of Trump and co-defendants Waltine Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira for the illegal retention of classified documents. Part two of the report will not be released while the prosecution of Nauta and Oliviera is ongoing.
Trump is slated to assume the presidency for the second time on January 20.
