U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has unsealed a key filing from DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith that includes evidence compiled in his investigation into Donald Trump's alleged efforts to prevent the peaceful transfer of presidential power after the 2020 election.
The full 165-page filing provides the most comprehensive--and now publically available--window into the piles of evidence federal prosecutors amassed in their case, which was temporarily delayed by the Supreme Court's July decision finding Trump is entitled to "some level" of immunity from federal charges.
Trump was initially charged in August 2023, and the special counsel filed a new, narrower indictment to comply with the Supreme Court's immunity decision. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies wrongdoing.
The brief shows that prosecutors argued that Trump's conduct was private and therefore not covered by immunity.
They reiterated the allegations against Trump and revealed new insights into the mountains of evidence they have collected throughout the case. Most glaring, Trump had no issues with endangering his Vice President, Mike Pence.
One passage describes how Trump and his aides allegedly planned to challenge the 2020 election results well in advance of Election Day and their pressure campaign on Vice President Pence to force him to reject the Electoral College votes for Joe Biden on January 6, 2021. In one striking passage, prosecutors said Trump replied, "So what?" when he was told that Pence could be in danger at the Capitol.
"When the defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes to try to stay in office," Smith and his team wrote.