Special Counsel Jack Smith on Friday released nearly 2,000 heavily redacted pages of documents in the 2020 election subversion criminal case against former President Donald Trump, revealing evidence Smith relied on to indict the former president. Revealed the fragment.
Most of the pages have been completely redacted and are believed to contain grand jury records and notes from FBI interviews conducted during the years-long investigation.
Most of the documents released include records of a phone call President Trump had with Georgia’s secretary of state after the 2020 election asking her to “find” votes, photos of fake 2020 electoral certificates, Contains information that has already been made public, such as devices. Letter to Congress explaining why President Mike Pence could not refuse Congressional certification of the January 6, 2021 election.
But the evidence released Friday offers a glimpse into what Mr. Smith is using to prosecute Mr. Trump. In one instance, new details emerged from a transcript of a January 6, 2022 House committee interview with an anonymous White House official.
Earlier this year, House Republicans released transcripts of the committee’s interviews with White House officials, but Republicans redacted some of the staffers’ responses highlighted by Smith.
A White House official told Trump that television stations had canceled the speech because of “the insurrection occurring at the Capitol,” according to the transcript.
“And he was like, ‘What do you mean?’ I said, ‘Looks like they’re rioting at the Capitol.’ And he was like, ‘Oh, really?’ It was. And he said, ‘Okay, let’s go take a look,”’ the employee said.
The employee told the committee that he took off Trump’s jacket, picked up the television, handed Trump the remote control, and then went to get a Diet Coke for the president, who was sitting in the Oval Dining Room. He said he went.
“I took off the jacket he was wearing, got the TV, gave him the remote control, and he started watching it,” the employee said. “So I went out to get him a Diet Coke and came back in. He saw it, he saw it with his own eyes, and that was good enough for me. did.”
A redacted appendix filed in the case’s public docket echoes an extensive Smith filing earlier this month that laid out the full scope of the case against Trump and that his actions regarding the 2020 election are protected by presidential immunity. Related to Smith’s belief that one should not. .
The documents were released a day after Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected President Trump’s request for a moratorium on their release. President Trump has called for the documents to be sealed until after Election Day, arguing that posting them now could be considered election inference.
“If a court withholds information to which the public has a right to access solely because of the potential political impact of its release, the withholding itself “This may amount to, or appear to constitute, election interference.”
File contents
The document was released on Friday in four volumes. The edited blank page contains:
The first volume of evidence includes excerpts from various House committee interviews on January 6 as part of the committee’s investigation into the Capitol riot.
Volume 2 is filled with sealed pages as well as tweets and other social media posts from Trump, his campaign and allies, including those posted during the January 6 Capitol riot. It is.
The tweets included one from Trump saying that Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what he needed to do” that day in supporting efforts to change the outcome of the election.
Others include myriad claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
Prosecutors have argued that Trump’s tweets should be allowed to be used at trial because they were personal in nature or part of his campaign, not official business as president.
Volume 3 includes photos of fake electoral certificates with signatures that Trump allies hoped would help overturn the 2020 election results, photos of pages from Pence’s 2022 autobiography, and photos of Trump and Georgia. Includes transcripts of a January 2020 call with the state Secretary of State.
The final volume includes a memo from attorney John Eastman detailing Pence’s plan to refuse Congressional certification of the 2020 election. The book includes a public statement that President Trump issued on the eve of January 6th in which he claimed to be in agreement with Pence on Congressional certification, as well as preparations that Trump made for his January 6th speech. The statement also includes a fundraising email sent out by the 2020 campaign a few days ago. January 6th.
The documents also include a copy of the handwritten memo asking Pence to “reject” electors, the January 6 budget, and a recording of Trump’s 2023 CNN town hall.
Prosecutors charged Trump with four crimes, including conspiracy to defraud and obstruct the United States, stemming from his actions after his 2020 election loss. Mr. Trump has maintained his innocence.
In a blockbuster decision this summer, the Supreme Court said Trump enjoys partial presidential immunity for alleged crimes committed while in office. Prime Minister Chutkan will now have to decide how to apply the ruling to the conduct at issue in the case.
This story has been updated with additional details.
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