Former President Donald Trump has unleashed a fierce attack on the Justice Department, accusing it of "election interference" after Special Counsel Jack Smith's key filing in the 2020 election case was unsealed. The newly public 165-page document outlines detailed evidence that prosecutors plan to use against Trump in his ongoing trial regarding his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
In a series of posts on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump decried the release of the filing, claiming it was part of a larger conspiracy to undermine his 2024 presidential campaign. "For 60 days prior to an election, the Department of Injustice is supposed to do absolutely nothing that would taint or interfere with a case," Trump wrote, alleging that the unsealing of the document was a clear violation of the DOJ's "60-day rule," a tradition that discourages major legal actions in the lead-up to an election. "They disobeyed their own rule in favor of complete and total election interference," Trump declared.
Smith's court filing, unsealed by U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, details what prosecutors allege to be Trump's "increasingly desperate" efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The filing suggests Trump intentionally misled the public, state election officials, and even his vice president, while privately admitting that many of his claims of election fraud were baseless. According to the document, Trump "resorted to crimes" in an effort to remain in power after losing the election to Joe Biden.
"When the defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he launched a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results," Smith wrote, adding that Trump's actions were centered around false claims of widespread voter fraud in states he had lost. The filing also alleges that when these efforts failed, Trump incited the mob that violently stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a last-ditch attempt to disrupt the certification of the election results. "The defendant knew that he had one last hope to prevent Biden's certification as president: the large and angry crowd standing in front of him," prosecutors wrote.
Trump's response to the unsealing of the document was predictably defiant. He blasted the case as a "scam," drawing parallels to previous investigations against him, such as the classified documents case brought by Smith earlier this year. Trump said that the DOJ, under the leadership of the "Harris-Biden regime," had become nothing more than an extension of the Democrats' campaign apparatus. He accused the administration of engaging in "the worst election interference in American history" and claimed the Democrats were "determined to stop us from winning back the White House."
The filing provides new insights into the mechanics of Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, detailing his pressure on state officials, his involvement in the fake electors scheme, and his attempts to enlist Vice President Mike Pence in blocking the certification of the Electoral College vote. It also highlights Trump's private conversations, including one instance where he dismissed claims of voter fraud pushed by his lawyer, Sidney Powell, as "crazy," despite publicly promoting similar allegations.
Trump's legal team argued that the timing of the unsealing was politically motivated, with campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung asserting that the release was meant to distract from what he called a "disastrous" performance by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Harris' running mate, during the vice-presidential debate. "This entire case is a partisan, unconstitutional witch hunt that should be dismissed," Cheung said.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges brought against him by Smith in relation to the 2020 election case. The Supreme Court's earlier ruling that a sitting president enjoys broad immunity for official acts has led to revisions in the indictment, which now focuses on Trump's private conduct during his bid to overturn the election. Special Counsel Smith continues to argue that Trump's actions were not part of his official duties as president but rather part of a personal scheme to stay in office.
The unsealed filing is expected to play a crucial role in Trump's upcoming trial, though the trial itself will not begin until after the 2024 election. Judge Chutkan has set deadlines for further filings and arguments in early November, leaving the legal battle over Trump's post-election conduct to play out alongside the former president's campaign for a second term in office.
