Attorney General Merrick Garland submitted to Congress portions of former special counsel Jack Smith’s final report on the investigation into President-elect Donald Trump after the court order expired at midnight Tuesday, according to people familiar with the matter.
In the report, Smith wrote that his office began the prosecution of Trump “because it concluded that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction.”
The report was sent to Congress and made public days later after legal wrangling over whether its contents, or parts of it, should be released to the public. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon ruled on Monday that Trump aide Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago’s former property manager Carlos de Oliveira had submitted Smith’s final report. Requests to prevent Volume 1 from being released were denied.
The piece concerns Trump’s attempts to subvert the transfer of power after the 2020 election. Volume 2 addresses allegations that the president-elect illegally kept classified documents and obstructed the Justice Department’s investigation after his first term ends in 2021.
In a letter to Garland accompanying the report, Smith defended his decision to indict the president-elect and rejected Trump’s accusations that his actions were influenced by higher-ups at the Justice Department.
“To everyone who knows me well, President Trump’s claim that the decisions I made as a prosecutor were influenced or directed by the Biden administration or other political actors is, to put it mildly, ridiculous,” Smith wrote.
Smith used the first volume of his report to defend his work and findings, asserting that “everything Mr. Trump did was fraudulent. He knowingly made false election claims.”
Much of the 137-page book describes information already made public through court filings in the now-dismissed Washington, D.C. lawsuit against Trump, and also includes images of the violence that occurred at the U.S. Capitol in January. On June 6, 2021, Trump supporters breached the building to prevent Congress from reaffirming Mr. Biden’s victory.
Prosecutors claimed that the rioters who descended on the Capitol “were motivated and instructed by Trump,” but Trump denied this. “His office is prepared to prove that President Trump intentionally summoned his supporters to Washington, D.C. to disrupt and disrupt the proceedings,” the former special counsel wrote.
Through more than 250 voluntary interviews and 55 grand jury testimony, Smith said he was able to compile evidence pointing to Trump’s alleged wrongdoing, including allegations that then-Vice President Mike Pence pressured him to delay the case. He was certified to vote on January 6, 2021, and he supported the organization of false electoral rolls.
The former special counsel also detailed how he claimed Trump tried to pressure the Justice Department to investigate false claims of fraud at the time. President Trump reportedly once instructed his acting attorney general to “just say this election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republicans.”
A federal grand jury indicted President Trump on four counts. He pleaded not guilty to all counts. But Smith wrote that his office considered filing other charges and ultimately decided against it. One potential charge was under the Insurrection Act, a Civil War-era law that prohibited people who incited insurrection against the United States from holding federal office.
But Smith said that even though the court described the Jan. 6 attack as an “insurrection,” his office was “aware of the litigation risk that would be posed by adopting this long-dormant statute.”
cannon A temporary order was issued. Last week, the Justice Department temporarily blocked release of the report, which was then appealed to a federal appeals court. It refused to stop the rollout.. The district judge’s order expired at 12 a.m. Tuesday.
Garland said he would not release the second part of the report publicly because of the ongoing litigation involving Nauta and de Oliveira.
The fast-moving legal battle over Smith’s report broke out last week and comes days before Trump is sworn in for a second term. If the battle had continued until the president-elect returned to the White House on January 20, it is highly likely that the special counsel’s report would not have been made public.
smith resigned from his position He was appointed as a special prosecutor last Friday, and Justice Department prosecutors took over ongoing issues in his investigation. Smith’s two investigations led to separate indictments against Trump but ended with Trump’s victory in the November presidential election.
As required by the special prosecutor, Smith drafted a final report and submitted it to the Attorney General last week. Garland pledged to make public all special prosecutor reports completed while he was attorney general, and he has kept that promise. President Biden Investigation Handling confidential documents. The special prosecutor’s final investigation report has been released. Hunter Biden’s Tax evasion and gun possession case Monday night.
Last week, Garland informed 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 released to the American public.
Smith’s term as special prosecutor began in November 2022. knocked on him This is to take over the ongoing investigation related to Trump. The president-elect repeatedly pledged to fire the special counsel when he returns to the White House.
A federal grand jury returned two indictments against the president-elect, marking the first time a former president has been indicted on federal crimes. In the 2020 election incident, Washington DC and Trump appeared. He was charged with four counts.Includes conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct official proceedings. In the document case, the elected candidate Billed as 40This includes intentionally retaining national defense information and conspiring to obstruct justice.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and accused Smith of launching a political investigation against him because he was a political rival of Biden.
The 2020 election case reached the Supreme Court, arguing that Trump was entitled to presidential immunity, which shields him from prosecution for conduct during his first term that gave rise to the charges.
Last July, the Supreme Court A landmark ruling was made. A ruling was made that former presidents cannot be prosecuted for official duties, but are not exempt from prosecution for unofficial acts. The decision prompted further proceedings in the federal district court overseeing the case.
however The charges were dismissed. That’s because in November, after President Trump was elected to a second term, the Justice Department’s long-standing policy prohibited indictments against sitting presidents.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
