Trump “resorted to crime” to overturn 2020 result

Donald Trump “resorted to crime” as he sought to overturn his 2020 election loss and should not escape prosecution, prosecutors say.

A new court filing challenges Trump's claim that he should avoid trial thanks to a recent landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling. It states that American presidents should be immune from prosecution when acting in an “official” capacity.

Trump was president when the alleged crimes were committed – but prosecutors say he acted in a “private” capacity, not an official one.

In response, Trump repeated false claims that the 2020 vote was “rigged” and suggested that the timing of the release of the documents was aimed at damaging his 2024 campaign.

In an interview with NewsNation, he also criticized special counsel Jack Smith, the lead prosecutor in the election interference investigation, who filed the lawsuit.

This is one of four criminal cases Trump has faced since he was voted out of office in 2020 – another of which resulted in a historic conviction in New York.

He is accused of trying to illegally block the certification of President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election but denies wrongdoing.

The new 165-page document provides the clearest overview yet of how Mr Smith's team would pursue his case, having adjusted the wording of his charges following the Supreme Court's intervention.

It details Trump's alleged plan, including his actions when his supporters rioted outside the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. It also describes then-Vice President Mike Pence's efforts to talk him down.

The issue remains at the forefront of U.S. politics nearly four years later, ahead of the November 2024 election contested by Trump and Kamala Harris.

It came up in Tuesday's vice presidential debate, in which JD Vance declined to answer whether Trump, his 2024 nominee, lost in 2020.

The court filing – released by a judge on Wednesday with some redactions – could represent Mr. Smith's last chance to state his case against Trump.

The case has been frequently delayed since the Department of Justice (DoJ) filed charges more than a year ago. Trump will not face trial before the November election – and he could try to drop the case if he wins.

Trump's lawyers fought to keep the latest filing secret. Campaign spokesman Steven Cheung called it “full of falsehoods” and “unconstitutional.”

In the newly released document, Mr. Smith and his team seek to circumvent the summer Supreme Court ruling that affected their case by limiting its scope.

The Supreme Court ruling did not provide immunity for unofficial acts. Prosecutors argue that while Trump was still in office when he tried to overturn the 2020 vote, his attempts had to do with his campaign and his life as a private citizen. They call it a “private criminal operation.”

The court should therefore “determine that the defendant must stand trial for his private crimes like any other citizen,” the file says.

The filing details several instances in which Pence expressed doubts about his boss's election fraud claims and tried to persuade him to accept that he had lost the election.

In the court document, prosecutors say Trump was not upset when he learned that his vice president had been moved to a safe location when rioters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021. “So what?” he reportedly said when informed about the scenes.

Pence later opened up about his dispute with Trump after storming Congress, when some rioters chanted, “Hang Mike Pence” because the vice president refused to obstruct the certification of the election results.

The filing also alleges that Trump always intended to declare victory regardless of the outcome, laying the groundwork for this well before Election Day. He is also accused of knowingly spreading false claims about the vote that he himself considered “crazy.”

Mr. Smith also provides several new details about the Trump campaign's alleged role in sowing chaos in battleground states where large numbers of mail-in ballots were counted in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

When a large number of ballots appeared to be going out for Biden in the Democratic stronghold of Detroit, Michigan, a Trump campaign official reportedly told his colleague to “find a reason” that there was something wrong with the ballots to “help him.” “To give options for file litigation”.

The filing also alleges that Trump and his allies, including attorney Rudy Giuliani, attempted to “take advantage of the violence and chaos at the Capitol” on January 6, 2021, to delay the certification of the election. They allegedly did this by calling senators and leaving voicemails urging them to object to state elections.

Trump said Wednesday that the case would end in his “complete victory.”

A trial date has not been set.

North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher breaks down the race for the White House in his weekly newsletter, US Election Unspun.

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