The DOJ released Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on the Trump election meddling case
The Department of Justice released Volume I to the public Special Counsel Jack Smith The final report on the investigation into US President-elect Donald Trump days before his inauguration.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has published the first volume of the election case against Trump Smith’s The back-and-forth in the federal judiciary on Tuesday night.
Smith’s opening letter to Garland said it was “ridiculous” for Trump to believe the Biden Administration or other political actors influenced or directed his decisions as a prosecutor, saying he was guided by the Principles of Federal Prosecution.
Trump’s cases represented “the most obvious crime, the most public harm, and the clearest evidence,” Smith said, referring to the principles.
FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS RELEASE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH’S FINAL REPORT
Split photo featuring US Attorney General Merrick Garland, President Donald Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images | Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images | Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
In a lengthy report, Smith said his office was fully behind the decision to bring criminal charges against Trump for “engaging in a series of criminal attempts to retain power” after losing the 2020 election.
Smith concluded that the parties are determining “whether any material in the superseding indictment is subject to presidential immunity” once it is known that Trump has won the 2024 election. The department then determined that the case should be suspended before taking office because of how it interpreted the Constitution.
“The Department’s view that the Constitution prohibits the continued impeachment and prosecution of the President is conclusive and does not affect the seriousness of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s evidence, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Office fully supports,” the report said.
Appeals Court Won’t Block PARTIAL RELEASE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH’S TRUMP REPORT
Garland appointed former Justice Department official Jack Smith as special counsel in November 2022.
After leaving the White House, Smith, a former assistant US attorney and head of the DOJ’s public integrity division, led an investigation into Trump’s withholding of classified documents and whether the former president obstructed a federal government investigation into the matter.
Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Smith is also tasked with overseeing an investigation into whether Trump or other officials and agencies interfered with the peaceful transition of power after the 2020 presidential election, including the certification of the Electoral College vote on January 6, 2021.
Smith has accused Trump in both cases, but Trump has pleaded not guilty.
The classified records case was dismissed in July 2024 by U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon for the Southern District of Florida, who ruled that Smith was illegally appointed as special counsel.
Special counsel Jack Smith recently asked to dismiss charges against Trump for allegedly meddling in the certification of the 2020 election. (Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Smith sued Trump in the U.S. District Court for the District of Washington in the 2020 election case, but Smith tried to dismiss the case after Trump was elected president. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted this petition.
This month, Cannon temporarily blocked the release of Smith’s final report. A federal appeals court overturned his decision, allowing the Justice Department to release Smith’s report.
Former President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. (Charles Trainor Jr./Miami Herald/Tribune News Service, via Getty Images)
in the year confidential records During the investigation, Smith charged Trump with 37 federal charges, including willful withholding of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements. Trump pleaded not guilty.
This image, which appears in a Justice Department court filing dated Aug. 30, 2022 and has been partially redacted by a source, shows a photo of documents seized during an Aug. 8 FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. . (Department of Justice via AP)
Trump was also charged as part of the non-investigative indictment with three additional counts: willful withholding of national defense information and two additional counts of obstruction.
In the 2020 election case, Smith accused Trump of conspiring to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct official proceedings; violation of official proceedings; and conspiracy against rights. Trump pleaded not guilty.
Smith’s cases against Trump were never tried in either jurisdiction.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press at the end of the day during his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments in Manhattan Criminal Court on May 7, 2024 in New York City. (Getty Images)
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Despite efforts by Trump lawyers to block the release of the report, Attorney General Merrick Garland has said he will release at least one volume of Smith’s report to the public.
This is an evolving story. Please check for updates.
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