By Raul Castillo
02 Oct 2024, 18:05 PM EDT
Former President Donald Trump “resorted to crimes to try to remain in office” after his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, according to the team of special prosecutor Jack Smith, in charge of the investigation into the Capitol assault case, stated this Wednesday.
The allegation, filed in a new court filing, describes how Trump, aware of the falsity of his election fraud claims, insisted on spreading them as part of a broader plan to stay in power.
In the court document, Smith’s team emphasizes that Trump knew there was no evidence of significant fraud in the election, but continued to spread false information in an attempt to invalidate the vote in several key states.
They claim that Trump launched “a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results in seven states he had lost: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.”
Prosecutors argue that these actions were not part of his official duties as president, eliminating the possibility of him claiming presidential immunity in this case.
Instead, they claim that Trump acted like any other citizen facing prosecution for private crimes.
Details revealed
Among the details revealed, Smith’s legal team highlights that, during the riots at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Trump used his phone to access Twitter instead of intervening.
According to telephone activity records, the former president spent much of the day interacting on the social network after giving his speech on the Ellipse esplanade.
Prosecutors maintain that the former president was acting more as a private candidate than as an incumbent president when he tried to overturn the election results.
This behavior, according to prosecutors, shows that Trump was not fulfilling his presidential role, but rather was focused on pursuing his plan to challenge the election result.
Prosecutor Jack Smith has adjusted his case to comply with a recent Supreme Court ruling, which granted Trump immunity for some of his actions while president.
However, Smith insists that the crimes committed by Trump after his electoral defeat are not protected by this immunity, since they were not related to his duties as president.
Trump campaign attacks prosecutor Smith
For its part, the Trump campaign has responded forcefully to the accusations. Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the former president, called the case a “witch hunt” orchestrated by the special prosecutor and “radical Democrats.”
“The deranged Jack Smith and the radical Democrats in Washington DC are hell-bent on weaponizing the Department of Justice in an attempt to cling to power,” Cheung said.
He also linked Smith’s team’s presentation to the vice presidential debate, suggesting that the release of the document was designed to distract from the political event.
Keep reading:
• Trump will plead not guilty in the Capitol assault case
• Trump was charged again in election subversion case brought by Jack Smith
• Trump celebrates the Supreme Court’s decision on his immunity: “victory for democracy”