Special counsel Jack Smith, who has accused President-elect Donald J. Trump, said in a final report released Tuesday morning that they believed the evidence was sufficient to convict Mr. Trump. In a case if his success in the 2024 elections would not have made it impossible to continue the prosecution.
“The Department’s view that the Constitution prohibits the continued impeachment and prosecution of a President is categorical and does not take into account the seriousness of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s evidence, or the merits of the prosecution, for which the Office fully stands.” Is.” Mr. Smith wrote.
He added: “Indeed, but for Mr. Trump’s election and imminent return to the presidency, the Office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.”
Justice Department gave 137 page volume — Half of Mr. Smith’s overall final report, a volume of classified documents about the matter still confidential — to Congress just after midnight on Tuesday.
The report, obtained by The New York Times, amounted to an extraordinary rebuke of a newly elected president, involving a significant legal saga that sees the man now set to wield the powers of the nation’s highest office, Who has been accused of crimes that hurt the heart. American democracy. And although Mr. Smith resigned as special counsel late last week, his recounting of the case served as a reminder of the vast array of evidence and detailed accounts of Mr. Trump’s actions that he marshaled.
The partial release came just a day after the judge in Florida who oversaw Mr Trump’s other federal case – which accused him of mishandling classified documents – allowed a portion of the materials to be made public. A verdict was pronounced. But the judge, Eileen M. Cannon, who was appointed by Mr. Trump himself, also blocked the Justice Department from immediately releasing the second volume of the report related to the documents case — even to Congress.
For more than a week, Mr Trump’s lawyers – who were shown a draft copy of Mr Smith’s report before it was released – described it as little more than an “attempted political hit job” whose sole purpose was to force the president’s transition. To disrupt. ” At least one Trump ally, former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, has come forward to complain that he too could be implicated in the report as an unindicted co-conspirator in the election interference case.
In August 2023, Mr. Smith filed three conflicting conspiracy charges in federal district court in Washington, accusing Mr. Trump of conspiring to overturn his loss in the 2020 election. Mr Smith also filed a separate suit in Florida, accusing two co-defendants of illegally possessing classified documents after Mr Trump left office and obstructing the government’s repeated attempts to retrieve them. Was accused of conspiring together.
But after Mr. Trump won the 2024 election, Mr. Smith dropped the cases because of a Justice Department policy that prohibits prosecuting sitting presidents. Under a separate department regulation, he submitted a final report about both cases – a section on each – to Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.
Last week, the Justice Department said Mr. Garland planned to hold off on releasing volumes about the classified document case until all legal proceedings related to Mr. Trump’s two co-defendants are completed.
Lawyers for the co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, fought for the release last week by obtaining a preliminary injunction from Judge Cannon, who had dismissed the case over the classified documents last summer.
In his order on Monday, Judge Cannon asked the defense and prosecution to appear before him on Friday in federal district court in Fort Pierce, Florida, to debate the department’s plan to release classified documents to Congress.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.