Special Counsel Jack Smith addresses reporters regarding the 37 federal charges presented by a grand jury against former U.S. President Donald Trump, stemming from allegations of unauthorized retention of classified documents and conspiracy to obstruct justice. This statement was made at his offices in Washington, D.C., on June 9, 2023.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
On Tuesday, the U.S. Justice Department released Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report concerning Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. This marks the concluding act of a prosecutor whose historic criminal cases were impacted by Trump’s November election victory.
The report is anticipated to outline Smith’s rationale for bringing a four-count indictment against Trump, accusing the soon-to-be Republican president of attempting to obstruct the collection and certification of votes after his 2020 defeat by Democratic President Joe Biden.
A separate section of the report will focus on Smith’s allegations that Trump unlawfully retained sensitive national security documents after departing from the White House in 2021. The Justice Department has pledged to keep this part confidential while legal proceedings continue against two Trump associates implicated in the case.
Smith, who departed from the Justice Department last week, dropped both cases against Trump after Trump’s election win last year, referencing a longstanding Justice Department policy that prohibits prosecuting a sitting president. Neither case proceeded to trial.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all accusations and frequently labels Smith as “deranged,” asserting that the cases are politically motivated efforts to undermine his campaign and political agenda.
Trump and his two former co-defendants in the classified documents case attempted to prevent the release of the report shortly before Trump is due to return to office on January 20. Their requests to block its publication were rejected by the courts.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who oversaw the documents case, has mandated that the Justice Department momentarily refrain from allowing specific senior Congressional members to privately view the documents segment of the report.
It remains uncertain how much new information will be included in the public portion of the report.
Prosecutors had previously provided an in-depth look at their case against Trump in earlier court documents. Additionally, a Congressional committee released a 700-page report in 2022 detailing Trump’s actions following the 2020 election.
Both investigations concluded that Trump propagated unfounded claims of significant voter fraud after the 2020 election, exerted pressure on state lawmakers to refrain from certifying the vote, and ultimately attempted to employ fraudulent slates of electors committed to voting for Trump in states that Biden actually won to impede Congress from certifying Biden’s victory.
This endeavor culminated in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, where a mob of Trump supporters stormed Congress in a failed effort to thwart lawmakers from certifying the election.
Smith’s case encountered legal challenges even prior to Trump’s election victory. It was suspended for several months as Trump asserted he could not be prosecuted for actions taken during his presidency.
The conservative majority of the U.S. Supreme Court largely sided with Trump, granting former presidents extensive immunity from criminal prosecution.
