New evidence against Donald Trump has been made public by a federal judge in the United States in connection with a Washington, DC, election subversion lawsuit.
A 165-page court document that recounts the prosecution’s claim that Trump, in his final months as president, acted in a private capacity to void the results of the 2020 election was unsealed by Judge Tanya Chutkan on Wednesday.
The filing is the latest effort by Special Counsel Jack Smith to explain how presidential immunity does not extend to Trump’s acts. It offers what may be the most comprehensive example of the 78-year-old’s attempts to hold onto power till the end of his term to far.
It also comes just one month before Trump’s 2024 campaign, when he is running for reelection again. In the brief, prosecutors allege Trump told members of his family: “It doesn’t matter if you won or lost the election. You still have to put up a fierce fight.
The brief also relays numerous interactions in which the former president was told repeatedly there was no evidence his 2020 election battle with Joe Biden was “rigged” or stolen through massive voter fraud, as Trump repeatedly claimed.
The assertion that Trump acted in his personal capacity rather than in his official function is a major theme of the brief. This was due to the US Supreme Court’s decision earlier this summer that Trump was granted broad immunity for his acts as president.
According to the document, the defendant argues that his unlawful conspiracy to rig the 2020 presidential election is exempt from prosecution because it “entailed official conduct.” Not at all. Despite the fact that the defendant was the President in office at the time of the alleged conspiracy, his plan was essentially private.