(Washington) Donald Trump laid the groundwork to try to overturn the 2020 election before he even lost, knowingly made false claims of voter fraud and ‘resorted to crimes’ in his failed attempt to cling to power , according to a newly released court filing from prosecutors that outlines new details of the landmark criminal case against the former president.
The filing from special prosecutor Jack Smith’s team offers the most comprehensive view yet of what prosecutors intend to prove if the case accusing Mr. Trump of conspiring to overturn the election comes to fruition. trial.
Although a months-long congressional investigation and the indictment itself have chronicled Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the election in great detail, the new filing cites previously unknown accounts offered by billionaire’s closest aides to paint a portrait of an “increasingly desperate” president who, while losing his grip on the White House, “used deception to target every step of the electoral process.”
According to the file, Donald Trump said “so what?” to an aide, after being alerted that his vice president, Mike Pence, was in potential danger because a mob of violent supporters had stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
PHOTO SHANNON STAPLETON, REUTERS
Mr. Trump also reportedly said that “the details don’t matter” when an adviser told him that a lawyer mounting his legal challenges would not be able to prove the false allegations in court, the report said. case.
The document was filed, initially under seal, after a Supreme Court opinion that granted broad immunity to former presidents for official acts they performed in office, narrowing the scope of lawsuits charging Donald Trump for conspiring to overturn the results of the election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
The purpose of this filing is to convince U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan that the offenses charged in the indictment are private acts, rather than official ones, and therefore can remain part of the indictment at as the case progresses. Mme Chutkan authorized the publication of a redacted version.
“Although Defendant was the sitting President at the time of the Charged Plots, his plan was fundamentally private,” Mr. Smith’s team wrote, adding: “When Defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes to try to stay in office. »
PHOTO J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE, ARCHIVES ASSOCIATED PRESS
Special Prosecutor Jack Smith
Mr. Trump’s campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung, called the filing “disingenuous” and “unconstitutional” and repeated oft-repeated allegations that Special Prosecutor Smith and Democrats were “determined to use the Department of Justice as a weapon to try to cling to power.
“The release of the lie-filled and unconstitutional J6 filing, immediately following Tim Walz’s disastrous debate performance, is another clear attempt by the Harris-Biden regime to undermine American democracy and interfere in this election,” he said. -he affirmed.
The file includes details of conversations between Messrs. Trump and Pence, including a private lunch the two men had on November 12, 2020, during which Mike Pence “reiterated a face-saving option” for Donald Trump, telling him to “not concede but recognize that the process is complete,” according to prosecutors.
PHOTO CARLOS BARRIA, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Mike Pence and Donald Trump, in 2020
At another private lunch a few days later, Mr. Pence urged Mr. Trump to accept the results of the election and run again in 2024.
“I don’t know, 2024 is that far away,” Mr. Trump replied, according to the filing.
But Donald Trump “ignored” Mr. Pence “in the same way he ignored dozens of court decisions that unanimously rejected his legal claims and those of his allies, and ignored those responsible targeted states – including those in his own party – who publicly stated that he had lost and that his specific fraud allegations were false,” prosecutors wrote.
Mr. Trump’s “constant stream of misinformation” in the weeks following the election culminated in his speech on the morning of January 6, 2021, in which he “used these lies to inflame and motivate the large and angry crowd of his supporters to march to the Capitol and disrupt the certification process,” prosecutors wrote.