Trump would have been convicted of election meddling, the DoJ report said

President-elect Donald Trump would have been convicted of illegally trying to change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election – which he lost – had he not been successfully re-elected in 2024, according to the man who led the US government’s investigation into him.

The evidence against Trump was “sufficient to obtain and support a conviction at trial,” Special Counsel Jack Smith wrote in a partially released report.

Trump hit back, saying Smith was “confused” and that his findings were “false”.

Trump was accused of pressuring officials to postpone the 2020 result, deliberately spreading lies about election fraud and seeking to manipulate a protest at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. He denied wrongdoing.

Trump, who was president at the time of the allegations, spent four years out of office – but was successfully re-elected to the White House in November. He will return to the president’s office next week.

After his success in the 2024 vote, the various legal issues he was facing have largely disappeared. The interference charge has now been dismissed.

Some of Smith’s report was already known because of the filing made public in October, which detailed Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn his defeat, and outlined how Smith could prosecute him.

But the report, released by the Department of Justice (DoJ) to Congress, provides more details about why Smith pursued the case, eventually closing it.

• It confirms the case against Trump accusing him of “unprecedented attempts to illegally maintain power” in various ways, including “threats and incitement of violence against his opponents”
• The report continues: “Mr Trump’s series of criminal attempts were bogus – false claims of election fraud”
• The report describes “significant challenges” facing investigators, including “Trump’s ability and willingness to use his influence and social media following to target witnesses, the courts and the Department.” [of Justice] employees”
• Addressing why the case was closed, the report acknowledges that the US Constitution prohibits the prosecution of a sitting president.
• The document continues to explain: “But in the election of Mr. Trump [in 2024] and the imminent return to the office of the president, the office has assessed whether the admissible evidence is sufficient to obtain and proceed with the conviction in the case.”
• In a letter accompanying the release to the attorney general, Smith denied any suggestion that the case was politically motivated: “Mr. Trump’s claim that my decisions as a prosecutor were influenced or directed [President Joe] The management of Biden or other political players, in one word, is ridiculous”
• Smith goes on to point out in the accompanying letter: “Although we have not been able to prosecute the cases we have brought to court, I believe that our team has resisted the legal issues”

The 137-page document was sent to Congress at midnight on Tuesday, after a period of legal wrangling that ended with a judge clearing the way for the release of the first part of Smith’s report.

The judge, Aileen Cannon, has ordered a hearing later in the week on whether to release the second part of the report – which focuses on separate allegations that Trump illegally stored classified government documents at his Florida home.

Writing on his Truth Social website, Trump maintained his innocence, mocking Smith by writing that the prosecutor “couldn’t go to trial before the election, which I won in a landslide”.

Trump added: “THE VOTERS HAVE SPOKE!!!”

Smith was appointed in 2022 to oversee the US government’s investigation of Trump. Special counsel are appointed by the DoJ in cases where there is a conflict of interest.

In the case of interference, Trump is accused of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden.

Both the case and the classified documents case led to criminal charges against Trump, who pleaded not guilty and sought prosecution as politically motivated.

But Smith dropped the charges after Trump’s election in November, in accordance with DoJ rules that prohibit prosecution of a sitting president.

The report explains: “The department’s view that [US] The Constitution prohibits further impeachment and prosecution of the president is complex and does not address the gravity of the charges, the strength of the government’s evidence, or the merits of the prosecution, which the office fully supports.”

It added that prosecutors find themselves at a crossroads: ” [2024] The election results raised for the first time the question of the legal process by which an impeached private citizen is elected president.”

Tuesday’s release comes after a period of legal backlash, during which Judge Cannon temporarily halted the release of Smith’s entire report, out of concern that it could interfere with the prosecution of two Trump associates who have been charged with him in the classified documents case. .

Walt Nauta, a Trump aide, and Carlos De Oliveira, the property manager at Mar-a-Lago, are accused of helping Trump hide the documents.

Unlike Trump’s, their cases are pending — and their attorneys argue that the release of Smith’s report could interfere with the jury and future proceedings.