WASHINGTON − Special counsel Jack Smith, whose office indicted President-elect Donald Trump on charges of illegally trying to stay in power after losing the 2020 election, said in a bombshell final report released early Tuesday that he believed his team had amassed enough evidence to convict Trump if the case went to trial.
But Trump’s election to a second term in November made it impossible for the case to go forward, Smith wrote in the report 174-page report, which was dated Jan. 7 and addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland.
“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. “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.”
Smith also said his team considered bringing an even more serious criminal charge against Trump – a violation of the Insurrection Act – after concluding there were “reasonable arguments that it might apply.”
The Insurrection Act provides that anyone who “incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto,” could be fined, imprisoned for a maximum of 10 years – and “shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States,” according to the report.
“An additional factor meriting Mr. Trump’s prosecution therefore was the need to vindicate and protect the voting rights of these and all future voters,” the report states.
Trump also engaged in threats and encouraged violence against those he perceived as his opponents, according to the report, which noted that 140 law enforcement officers were assaulted on Jan. 6, 2021, with some suffering “significant physical injuries.”
Trump, Smith suggested, had fueled that violence by telling his supporters in a speech that day – ahead of the attack on the Capitol – to go there and “fight like hell.”
“The people who took Mr. Trump at his word formed a massive crowd that broke onto restricted Capitol grounds and into the building, violently attacking law enforcement officers protecting the Capitol and those inside,” Smith wrote.
What were the charges against Trump?
Trump was indicted in Washington, D.C., for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 election with baseless claims of widespread fraud. He was also charged with obstructing Congress from counting Electoral College votes on Jan. 6, 2021, when a riot of his supporters at the Capitol temporarily halted the count.
