A report released Tuesday says U.S. special counsel Jack Smith concluded that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump engaged in an “unprecedented criminal effort” to cling to power after losing the 2020 election.
But Smith’s attempts to take the case to court failed because Trump won the election in November.
The report states that the U.S. Department of Justice’s view that “the Constitution prohibits further indictment and prosecution of the President is categorical and does not depend on the seriousness of the crimes against him, the strength of the government’s evidence or the merits of the accusations made against him. the accusation, which the office fully supports.
The report included details of Smith’s decision to file a four-count indictment against Trump, accusing him of planning to obstruct the collection and certification of votes following his 2020 defeat by the Democratic President Joe Biden.
Trump criticizes Smith
The report concluded that there was enough evidence to convict Trump at trial, but his imminent return to the White House, scheduled for January 20, made that impossible.
“Without the election of Mr. Trump and his imminent return to the presidency, the Office of the Special Prosecutor believes that the admissible evidence would have been sufficient to obtain a conviction at trial,” the report said.
Smith, who has faced intense criticism from Trump, also defended the investigation he led and the prosecutors who participated in it.
“Mr. Trump’s assertion that my decisions as prosecutor were influenced or directed by the Biden administration or other political actors is ridiculous,” Smith wrote in a letter detailing that report.
After the report was released, Trump described Smith in a post on the Truth Social platform as “a foolish prosecutor who couldn’t get his case to trial before the election.”
In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland released by the department, Trump’s lawyers called the report a “politically motivated attack” and said its release before Trump returns to the White House would harm the presidential transition .