Special counsel's final report to Congress on Trump investigation
Attorney General Merrick Garland has delivered to Congress part of former special counsel Jack Smith's final report on his investigation into President-elect Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the matter, after a court order blocked its release. Expires Tuesday at midnight.
Smith wrote in the report that his office began prosecuting Trump because it had sufficient evidence against him, “but with Mr. Trump's election and impending return to the presidency, the office assessed that the evidence was admissible.” Sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.”
The report was sent to Congress and made public shortly after days of legal debate over whether the report (or parts of it) should be disclosed to the public. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday rejected a bid by Trump aide Walt Nauta and former Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira to block Smith's final bid Request for publication of report volume one.
That part concerns Trump's alleged efforts to subvert the transfer of power after the 2020 election. Volume Two delves into allegations that the president-elect illegally possessed classified documents and obstructed a Justice Department investigation after his first term ended in 2021.
In a letter to Garland accompanying the report, Smith defended his decision to bring charges against the president-elect and dismissed Trump's accusations that his actions were influenced by senior officials at the Justice Department.
“Mr. Trump's claim that my decisions as prosecutor were influenced or directed by the Biden administration or other political figures is laughable to all those who know me well,” Smith wrote, who later reported Zhong added that the office had “no interest in influencing the presidential election.”
Smith defended his work and findings in the first volume of the report, claiming that “the thread through all of Mr. Trump's criminal activity was deception — the deliberate falsehood of the election results.”
Much of the 137-page book recounts information that has been made public through court documents during the now-dismissed case against Trump in Washington, D.C., including what happened at the U.S. Capitol in January. Images of violence. On December 6, 2021, a group of Trump supporters stormed the building in an attempt to prevent Congress from reaffirming Biden's victory.
Prosecutors claimed that the rioters who attacked the Capitol “were incited and directed by Trump,” a claim Trump has denied. The former special counsel wrote that his office was “prepared” to prove that “Trump intentionally allowed his supporters to obstruct and attempted to impede the proceedings by summoning them to Washington, D.C.”
Still, Smith wrote in his office that “no direct evidence – such as an explicit admission or communication with co-conspirators – has been found of Mr. Trump's subjective intent to cause the sweeping violence that occurred on January 6.”
Smith revealed that through voluntary interviews with more than 250 people and grand jury testimony from 55 people, his office was able to gather evidence pointing to Trump's alleged crimes, including accusations that he tried to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence. , asking it to postpone the charges against Trump. The vote certification took place on January 6, 2021, and he supported the organization of a false electoral roll.
The former special counsel also detailed how Trump tried to pressure the Justice Department to investigate false fraud claims at the time. According to the report, Trump at one point told his acting attorney general to “just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican members of Congress.”
A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Trump with four counts. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts. But Smith wrote that his office considered and ultimately decided not to pursue additional charges. One of the possible charges is under the Insurrection Act, a Civil War-era law that bars those who incite insurrection against the United States from holding federal office.
But Smith said that while the court described the Jan. 6 attack as an “insurrection,” his office was “aware of the litigation risks that would arise from adopting this long-dormant statute.”
Trump is accused of participating in the crime with at least six unnamed co-conspirators, Smith wrote, and his office identified some shared criminal liability with the president-elect. Smith said that after Trump was indicted in August 2023, his office continued to investigate whether other alleged participants should face charges. He said he referred to evidence from the U.S. Attorney's Office that someone may have committed an unrelated crime for further investigation.
Smith's office made a “preliminary determination” that admissible evidence would justify charging some of Trump's co-conspirators and has begun studying how to proceed. But because his team did not reach a conclusion or seek any further prosecutions, Smith wrote that the report “should not be read as charging any specific person other than Mr. Trump with a crime, nor should it be construed as “Excuse”.
Smith's legal battle over Trump report
The Justice Department's release of the second volume of the Smith report marks the culmination of a fast-moving legal battle over the past week that ended just days before Trump was sworn in for a second term. If the fight continues until the president-elect returns to the White House on January 20, it is unlikely that the special counsel's report will be released publicly.
Cannon was assigned to oversee the documents case, issue interim order A federal appeals court last week temporarily blocked the Justice Department from releasing the report. Refuse to stop publishing. The district judge's order expires at 12 noon on Tuesday.
Garland said he would not release the second part of the report publicly because of the ongoing litigation involving Nota and de Oliveira.
Smith Resign from office On Friday, he assumed the role of special prosecutor and Justice Department prosecutors have taken over ongoing matters in his investigation. Smith's two investigations each led to the indictment of Trump but ended with his victory in the November presidential election.
At the request of the special counsel, Smith drafted and submitted a final report to the attorney general last week. Garland has vowed to release all special counsel reports completed while he was attorney general and has so far followed through on that promise, including in Investigation into President Biden Handling of confidential documents. He released the special counsel's final report on the investigation Hunter Biden's Monday night for tax evasion and firearms possession.
Last week, Garland notified Congress that Smith had completed his investigation and submitted a two-volume report. It is unclear whether the second volume related to the classified documents case will be disclosed to the American people.
Smith's term as special counsel begins in November 2022, when Garland tap him Take over the ongoing investigation involving Trump. The president-elect has repeatedly vowed to fire the special counsel when he returns to the White House.
A federal grand jury has issued two indictments against the president-elect, marking the first time a former president has been charged with federal crimes. In 2020 election case, Trump is brought to Washington, D.C. Facing four chargesincluding conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct official proceedings. In the filing, the president-elect is Charged with 40 countsincluding knowingly withholding national defense information and conspiring to obstruct justice.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and accused Smith of conducting a political investigation into him because he is a political rival of Biden.
The 2020 election case goes to the Supreme Court, with Trump claiming he is entitled to presidential immunity, shielding him from prosecution because the conduct giving rise to the charges occurred during his first term.
In July, the High Court Landmark ruling issued Ruled that former presidents cannot be charged for official actions but are not immune from prosecution for unofficial actions. The decision led to further proceedings in the federal district court handling the case.
but Charges dismissed In November after Trump was re-elected, long-standing Justice Department policy prohibited prosecution of sitting presidents.