A crucial document from special counsel Jack Smith, which includes information gathered in his investigation into the alleged actions of former president Donald Trump to question the validity of presidential authority after the 2020 election, has been made public by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.
After the Supreme Court's ruling in July that Trump is entitled to some kind of protection from federal charges, the 165-page brief gives the most complete look at the material that federal prosecutors have accumulated in their case, as Breitbart News reported.
A fresh brief from the prosecution argues that Trump's actions did not qualify for immunity since they were personal and not subject to public scrutiny.
They restated the charges against Trump and provided fresh details about the copious amounts of material they have gathered so far.
Ahead of Election Day, Trump and his associates allegedly prepared to contest the results and pushed Vice President Mike Pence to disregard Electoral College votes on January 6, 2021, according to the document.
"When the defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes to try to stay in office," Smith and his team wrote.
Smith has broken down his filing into four sections. Part one details the accusations leveled against Trump, including details from the indictment.
Next, we have a section that "establishes that nothing the Government intends to present to the jury is protected by presidential immunity." This part lays out the legal concerns surrounding presidential immunity. The last section explains the government's request to the court, which is to determine that Trump is required to appear in court for trial.
Three types of presidential acts were defined by the high court, each with its own degree of immunity: Absolute immunity is granted to actions that are performed within the exclusive constitutional authority of a president, while the presumption of immunity is granted to official acts. Unofficial acts are not entitled to immunity.
Smith's brief contends that Trump's attempt to secure a second term in office was a "private criminal endeavor," rather than one that involved official conduct. Additionally, Smith contends that Trump attempted to overturn the election in his capacity as a candidate, rather than as president.
"The defendant asserts that he is immune from prosecution for his criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election because, he claims, it entailed official conduct. Not so," prosecutors wrote.
"Although the defendant was the incumbent president during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was a fundamentally private one."
A spokesman for Trump's campaign, Steven Cheung, vilified the release of the filing, saying it was a "falsehood-ridden" statement and "unconstitutional."
"This entire case is a partisan, unconstitutional witch hunt that should be dismissed entirely, together with all of the remaining Democrat hoaxes," he said.
Smith's office has declined journalists' requests for comment.
