Day: January 14, 2025

Special Counsel Report: Trump ‘Resorted to a Series of Criminal Efforts to Retain Power’

On Jan. 6, 2021, he 'direct[ed] an angry mob to the United States Capitol to obstruct the congressional certification of the presidential election and then leverage rioters' violence to further delay it'

Pensito Editors
Terrorist supporters of President Donald Trump occupy the U.S. Capitol in Washington
Trump-inspired terrorist Kevin Seefried of Delaware carries a Confederate flag during their storming of the U.S. Capitol, January 6, 2021. (REUTERS/Mike Theiler)

Excerpt from the report: As set forth in the original and superseding indictments, when it became clear that Mr. Trump had lost the election and that lawful means of challenging the election results had failed, he resorted to a series of criminal efforts to retain power. This included attempts:

  • to induce state officials to ignore true vote counts; to manufacture fraudulent slates of presidential electors in seven states that he had lost;
  • to force Justice Department officials and his own Vice President, Michael R. Pence, to act in contravention of their oaths and to instead advance Mr. Trump’s personal interests; and,
  • on January 6, 2021, to direct an angry mob to the United States Capitol to obstruct the congressional certification of the presidential election and then leverage rioters’ violence to further delay it.

In service of these efforts, Mr. Trump worked with other people to achieve a common plan: to overturn the election results and perpetuate himself in office.

Read the rest of the report, which is widely available online, including at this link [PDF].

Justice Department Releases Smith Report Detailing Trump’s Jan. 6 Crimes

Buck Banks

“The department’s view that the Constitution prohibits the continued indictment and prosecution of a president is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the government’s proof or the merits of the prosecution, which the office stands fully behind,” Mr. Smith wrote in his report. “Indeed, but for Mr. Trump’s election and imminent return to the presidency, the office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.”

— The New York Times: The Justice Department delivered the 137-page volume — representing half of Mr. Smith’s overall final report, with the volume about Mr. Trump’s other federal case, accusing him of mishandling classified documents, still confidential — to Congress just after midnight on Tuesday.