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U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan made public a 165-page filing from Special Counsel Jack Smith that reveals new details about the allegations against Donald Trump in his federal election subversion case. This case centers on allegations that Trump attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The allegations include Trump’s attempt to prevent Congress from certifying the actual election results by offering a slate of fake electors, as well as his efforts connected to the January 6 rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol and injured over 100 police officers, ultimately killing 5 officers.
In the filing, Smith and his team state, "[w]hen [Trump] lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes to try to stay in office." Trump allegedly : 1) planned to declare victory regardless of election results, 2) leveraged the chaos his operatives were sowing at polling sites to support his false claims of fraud 3) promoted false claims of voter fraud, and 4) pressured then-VP Mike Pence to reject the election results.
The lengthy filing lays out the evidence that Smith plans to use against Trump, including that:
leading Republicans repeatedly told the former president that he lost outright,
Trump’s claims of voting machine fraud were false and unsubstantiated, l, and
that there was no evidence that fraud caused his loss.
The case, which was initially brought in 2023, was impacted by the July 2024 Supreme Court decision that gave presidents broad immunity for official actions. Part of Smith’s filing seeks to prove that Trump acted in a private capacity, as he was acting as a candidate seeking re-election and not a sitting president, and therefore remains open to prosecution. He asks that the court hold that Trump can face trial for his alleged actions.
The case is not expected to go to trial before the 2024 presidential election. The legal fight is one of several that the former president faces.
Trump was told his “Green Bay Sweep” scheme — where Pence would certify Trump’s false slate of electors on Jan. 6 — was unconstitutional