Former President Donald Trump's legal strategy suffered a major setback this week after U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled to unseal a 165-page court filing from special counsel Jack Smith, revealing new evidence in Trump's ongoing election subversion case. Trump's last-ditch attempt to block the release of the document failed, and the subsequent revelations from the motion have left the former president visibly outraged, as evidenced by a string of fiery public responses.
The unsealed motion, which outlines Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, provides a detailed timeline of his actions both before and after January 6, 2021. The document lays bare what Smith describes as an "increasingly desperate" plan by Trump and his co-conspirators to reverse the legitimate election outcomes in seven key states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. These efforts, according to Smith, were driven by knowingly false claims of election fraud.
"When the defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes to try to stay in office," the motion reads. Smith's team alleges that Trump not only lied to the public and state officials but also pressured Vice President Mike Pence in an attempt to block Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's victory.
The legal drama took an unexpected turn when Trump's lawyers, in an effort to prevent the document from being unsealed, argued that the release would unduly influence the upcoming 2024 election. They accused Smith of attempting to sway public opinion by revealing damaging evidence at a critical time. However, the court found these arguments unpersuasive. Judge Chutkan rejected the defense's claims and allowed the document to be released, marking a significant moment in the case.
In response, Trump lashed out in a series of posts on his social media platform, Truth Social, accusing the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Democrats of conspiring against him. "The release of this falsehood-ridden, unconstitutional J6 brief immediately following Tim Walz's disastrous debate performance, and 33 days before the Most Important Election in the History of our Country, is another obvious attempt by the Harris-Biden regime to undermine and Weaponize American Democracy, and INTERFERE IN THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION," Trump wrote.
He continued his tirade, targeting Special Counsel Jack Smith directly, calling him "deranged" and alleging that the DOJ was being "weaponized" by "Radical Left Democrats." Trump's response was steeped in familiar rhetoric, repeating claims of election interference while asserting that the case against him is a "Partisan, Unconstitutional Witch Hunt."
In his most combative remarks, Trump claimed, "I didn't rig the 2020 Election, they did!" and accused Democrats of using the DOJ to sabotage his 2024 presidential campaign because they know he is "WINNING." Trump insisted that the unsealed documents were part of a broader effort to prop up what he described as a "failing candidate, Kamala Harris."
Despite Trump's heated denials, the unsealed motion paints a stark picture of his actions leading up to and during the January 6 Capitol attack. The document reveals that Trump, aware of the escalating violence at the Capitol, reacted with indifference when informed that Pence had been moved to a secure location. According to Smith, Trump's reaction to the news was simply, "So what?"
The document also includes detailed accounts of how Trump allegedly pressured Pence, both publicly and privately, to refuse to certify the election results. The brief recounts several interactions between the two, including one on January 5, 2021, where Trump warned Pence that he would face public criticism if he failed to act. This pressure culminated in Trump's infamous January 6 tweet accusing Pence of lacking "the courage to do what should have been done," a message that further incited the already violent mob.
Trump's legal team has consistently sought to downplay the significance of these interactions, arguing that Trump's conduct was part of his official duties as president and should be immune from prosecution. However, Smith's motion directly challenges that defense, contending that Trump's actions were those of a candidate seeking to remain in office rather than an officeholder performing official duties.
The unsealed document also sheds light on the strained relationship between Trump and Pence in the aftermath of the 2020 election. According to the filing, Pence repeatedly advised Trump to accept the election results and suggested he run again in 2024. Instead, Trump opted to pursue a path of legal challenges and public disinformation, despite being told by aides and state officials that his claims of widespread voter fraud were unfounded.
For Trump, the release of this motion is a significant blow, both legally and politically. The former president has repeatedly claimed that these legal battles are politically motivated attempts to derail his 2024 campaign, and he has used the unsealing of Smith's motion to galvanize his supporters. In a televised interview with NewsNation, Trump said of Smith, "He's a deranged person," before again reiterating that the election was "rigged" against him.
