Trump 'Resorted To Crimes' To Overturn 2020 US Election Results, Not Immune, Say Prosecutors
Trump is accused of attempts to illegally block the certification of President Joe Biden's victory in 2020. A new filing unsealed Wednesday offers fresh details about the case against Trump.
Former US President Donald Trump "resorted to crimes" to overturn his 2020 election defeat, prosecutors have alleged in a new court filing unsealed on Wednesday. The filing seeks to argue that a July US Supreme Court ruling that gave Trump immunity for acts during his tenure as president doesn't apply in this case. The prosecutors have argued that the alleged election-interference offences were committed by Trump, who was then seeking re-election to office against Joe Biden, in his personal capacity.
Trump is accused of attempts to illegally block the certification of President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election. However, he denies wrongdoing, the BBC reported, adding that the former president has also dismissed the latest filing as a bid to hurt his ongoing election campaign to reclaim US presidency.
The 165-page document was submitted by Special Counsel Jack Smith, the lead prosecutor in the election interference probe, the BBC reported. “When the defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes to try to stay in office,” Smith wrote in the brief.
The prosecutors wrote that “the defendant’s scheme was a private one”, adding that Trump "extensively used private actors and his campaign infrastructure to attempt to overturn the election results and operated in a private capacity as a candidate for office", as per CNN
As per Reuters, prosecutors have included with the court filing, snippets of witness interviews, grand jury testimony, and evidence collected from search warrants during the investigation.
The filing has been released by US District Judge Tanya Chutkan in partially redacted form.
There will be no trial before November’s election, and the BBC report described the filing as the last chance for prosecutors to outline their case against Trump. According to a CNN report, the document "offers new detail about special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the former president’s efforts to lean on state officials and paint a narrative of widespread fraud that prosecutors say Trump knew was untrue".
The document includes details about Trump’s frayed relationship with former Vice-President Mike Pence, who reportedly refused to interfere with the certification, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) evidence of Trump’s phone usage on January 6, 2021, during the Capitol riot, and conversations with family members and others, CNN reported.
Pence has been identified by name throughout the filing. The names of many other members of Trump's administration, allies and state officials he targeted are blacked out, though details of their locations and actions make their likely identities clear, reported Reuters.
According to Reuters, the filing 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".
As per Reuters, Trump has pleaded not guilty in four criminal cases, including the aforementioned one. A 'hush-money' case led to a historic conviction earlier this year.
On Wednesday, Trump said the election-interference case would end with his "complete victory", according to the BBC. A trial date has not been set.
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