Trump “resorted to crime” after 2020 election defeat – File – DW – 10/02/2024

Former US President Donald Trump “committed crimes” after losing the 2020 presidential election, federal prosecutors said in a court filing unsealed on Wednesday.

Trump has falsely claimed that the 2020 election, won by current President Joe Biden, was stolen from him. In January 2021, pro-Trump protesters stormed the US Capitol as lawmakers gathered to count the electoral votes.

Wednesday’s filing is likely the last opportunity for prosecutors to make their case against Trump before the Nov. 5 election, when he will face Vice President Kamala Harris.

What was in the file?

The filing argued that Trump disregarded the advice of former Vice President Mike Pence and other advisers and was not entitled to immunity from prosecution.

The document was filed by special counsel Jack Smith’s team after the Supreme Court issued an opinion that presidents enjoy broad immunity for official acts while in office.

The filing argues that Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election constituted private rather than official actions and could still remain part of an impeachment.

“Although the defendant was the sitting president during the charged conspiracies, his plan was essentially a private one,” Smith’s team said.

“When the defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crime to remain in office,” the document states.

Trump pleaded not guilty to four criminal charges accusing him of conspiring to obstruct Congress’ certification of the election, defrauding the U.S. of accurate results and interfering with the right to vote. The former president has dismissed the charges and other proceedings against him as a political witch hunt.

Trump disregarded Pence’s advice, prosecutors say

Trump’s efforts included attempting to persuade Pence not to certify the electoral vote count on the afternoon of January 6, 2021.

The filing contains details of conversations between Trump and Pence, including one in which Pence accused the former president of needing to “acknowledge that the process is over” without officially admitting that it was a “face-saving option.”

In another conversation, Pence called on Trump to accept the election results and run again in 2024.

The filing said Trump disregarded Pence’s advice “in the same way he disregarded dozens of court decisions that unanimously rejected the legal claims of him and his allies.”

“He ignored officials in the targeted states – including those in his own party – who publicly stated that he had lost and that his specific allegations of fraud were false,” prosecutors said.

The document accuses Trump of producing a “constant stream of disinformation.”

“He used these lies to incite and motivate the large and angry crowd of his supporters to march on the Capitol and disrupt the certification process.”

Trump accuses Democrats of “using the Justice Department as a weapon.”

In response to Wednesday’s filing, Donald Trump accused the Democratic Party of using legal proceedings to launch a political campaign against him.

“Democrats are weaponizing the Justice Department because they know I win,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social, calling it a case of “prosecutorial misconduct.”

He called the filing a “hit” and described the Justice Department as an “extension” of Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.

sdi/wd (AP, Reuters)