Special counsel Jack Smith, who indicted President-elect Trump on charges of illegally seeking to cling to power after losing the 2020 election, said in a report released that the evidence would have been sufficient to convict Trump in a trial, had his 2024 election victory not made it impossible for the prosecution to continue. The Justice Department "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. DOJ delivered the report, with the separate volume about the case accusing Trump of mishandling classified documents still confidential, to Congress just after midnight on Tuesday. The New York Times called it "an extraordinary rebuke of a president-elect, capping a legal saga that saw Trump "charged with crimes that struck at the heart of American democracy." Smith resigned as special counsel last week.
In the report, Smith took Trump to task not only for his efforts to reverse the results of a fair election, but also for consistently encouraging “violence against his perceived opponents” throughout the chaotic weeks between Election Day and Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, injuring more than 140 police officers. Smith blamed Trump for the attack on the Capitol, quoting from the evidence in several criminal cases of people charged with taking part in the riot who believed they were acting on Trump’s behalf. Smith discussed the trauma experienced by Capitol Police officers who were attacked during the riot, including “shell-shock” and the inability to move. One officer recalled rioters trying to beat up the police “with such ferocity” and wondering: “What are they going to do to somebody else that’s in here, that’s maybe a staff or a congressman or somebody with the press? How are — what are they going to do to them?.” Trump has vowed to pardon many Jan. 6 defendants, possibly including ones who assaulted police officers. Smith's team interviewed more than 250 people and obtained grand jury testimony from more than 55 witnesses. Smith cited Trump’s “ability and willingness to use his influence and following on social media to target witnesses, courts and department employees, which required the office to engage in time-consuming litigation to protect witnesses from threats and harassment.”
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