President-elect Donald Trump would have been convicted of illegally trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election if he had not been elected, according to a Justice Department report submitted to Congress.
“The admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial,” Special Counsel Jack Smith's report said.
The 137-page document was sent to Congress after Judge Elaine Cannon cleared the way for the first of two parts of Smith's report – on the election interference issue – to be published.
She ordered a hearing later in the week on whether to make public the portion of the report related to allegations that Trump illegally kept secret government documents.
The president-elect takes office on January 20.
Special Counsel Jack Smith resigned from his position last week.
Smith was appointed in 2022 to supervise the US Department of Justice's investigations into Trump. Special consultants are selected by the department in cases where there is a potential conflict of interest.
Trump was accused of illegally keeping documents and, in some cases, storing them in rooms at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, which is his residence. In the interference case, he was accused of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 elections.
Both cases resulted in criminal charges against Trump, who has pleaded not guilty and sought to portray the prosecutions as politically motivated.
But Smith closed the cases after Trump was elected in November, in accordance with Justice Department regulations prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting president.
In fact, Smith says in the released report: “The Department's (Justice Department) view that the Constitution prohibits the continued impeachment and trial of the President is categorical and does not depend on the seriousness of the crimes charged against him and the strength of the government's evidence.” or the subject matter of the allegation which the Office fully supports.”
Since then, there has been legal controversy over the materials relating to the cases.
Last week, Judge Cannon temporarily halted the release of the entire Smith report, over concerns that it might impact the cases of two Trump aides charged in the classified documents case.
Walt Nauta, Trump's personal assistant, and Carlos de Oliveira, Mar-a-Lago's real estate manager, are accused of helping Trump hide documents.
Unlike Trump's case, their cases are still pending – and their lawyers have argued that releasing Smith's report could prejudice the jury and future trial.
