U.S. prosecutors detail evidence in Trump election subversion case

WASHINGTON — A U.S. judge on Wednesday made public a court filing in which federal prosecutors laid out their evidence accusing former President Donald Trump of illegally trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

The 165-page filing is likely the last opportunity for prosecutors to detail their case against Trump before the Nov 5 election given there will not be a trial before Trump faces Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

The filing lays out a sweeping account of Trump's conduct following the 2020 election, much of which has already been made public through news reports, findings from the House committee that investigated the Capitol riot or the indictment obtained by Smith in the case.

It includes an allegation that a White House staffer heard Trump tell family members that "it doesn't matter if you won or lost the election. You still have to fight like hell." It also alleges that on Jan 1, 2021, Trump told his vice president, Mike Pence, that people "are gonna hate your guts" and "think you're stupid" if he didn't use his role presiding over the Jan 6, 2021, congressional certification of the election result to benefit Trump.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to four criminal charges accusing him of a conspiracy to obstruct the congressional certification of the election, defraud the U.S. out of accurate results and interfere with Americans’ voting rights.

Prosecutors working with Special Counsel Jack Smith divulged their evidence to make the case that the remaining allegations against Trump survive the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that former presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution for official actions taken as president.

Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung blasted the disclosures, saying, "This entire case is a partisan, Unconstitutional Witch Hunt that should be dismissed entirely, together with ALL of the remaining Democrat hoaxes."

Trump has dismissed this case and multiple other criminal prosecutions he faced this year as politically motivated attempts to prevent him from returning to power.

The filing provides details of conversations with senior officials in Trump’s administration including Pence and White House chief-of-staff Mark Meadows, who appeared before the grand jury during the investigation.

Prosecutors submitted the court filing on Thursday, but U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan had to approve proposed redactions before it was made public.

Trump’s lawyers opposed allowing Smith to issue a sweeping court filing laying out their evidence, arguing it would be inappropriate to do so weeks before the election. They have argued the entire case should be tossed out based on the Supreme Court’s ruling.

If Trump wins the election, he is likely to direct the Justice Department to drop the charges.

© Thomson Reuters 2024.