Justice Department Releases Report On Trump’s Efforts To Overturn 2020 Election Results
The United States Justice Department has released Special Counsel, Jack Smith’s report on Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, bringing the curtain down on a series of high-profile criminal investigations into the former president.
The report, published Tuesday, sheds light on Smith’s four-count indictment accusing Trump of conspiring to obstruct the certification of votes after his loss to Democratic President Joe Biden.
In the first part of the report, Smith lays out his case that Trump orchestrated a scheme to interfere with the election process in a bid to cling to power.
Meanwhile, the second section focuses on Trump’s alleged illegal retention of classified national security documents after leaving office in 2021.
Smith, who left the Justice Department last week, refrained from bringing criminal charges against Trump during his presidency, citing the department’s policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.
Reuters reports that Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges, continuing to criticize Special Counsel Jack Smith as “deranged” and claiming the cases are politically motivated attempts to harm his campaign and political movement.
In the classified documents case, Trump and two co-defendants tried to block the release of a report just days before Trump is scheduled to return to office on January 20.
However, courts rejected their efforts to prevent its publication entirely.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who oversaw the documents case, has instructed the Justice Department to temporarily halt plans to allow senior members of Congress to privately review the document section of the report.
It remains unclear how much new information the public portion of the report will reveal.
Meanwhile previous court filings provided a detailed view of the case against Trump. A 700-page report from a congressional panel in 2022 also outlined Trump’s actions following the 2020 election.
Both investigations concluded that Trump spread false claims of widespread voter fraud, pressured state lawmakers not to certify the election results, and attempted to use fraudulent electors in Biden-won states to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s victory.
This effort culminated in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, when Trump supporters stormed Congress in an unsuccessful attempt to block lawmakers from certifying the election results.
Smith’s case encountered legal challenges even before Trump’s election win, being paused for months as Trump argued he could not be prosecuted for actions taken while president.
However, the US Supreme Court’s conservative majority largely sided with Trump, granting former presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution.
