Attorney General Merrick Garland has released Jack Smith’s final report on President-elect Donald Trump’s classified documents case. The report, submitted to Congress and released at 1 a.m. Tuesday after a court hold expired, details the investigation into the discovery of dozens of boxes of classified documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on August 8, 2022.
Special counsel Jack Smith, who led the investigation, assembled a team of 20 prosecutors to pursue Trump in 2023. Although Smith resigned this week, the release of his report is a significant blow to Trump.
Trump’s legal team attempted to block the release of the final report, but their request was denied. However, their legal filings did delay the release process.
Smith’s report concluded that Trump engaged in “criminal attempts to retain power” and that a D.C. jury would have found him guilty.
The report states, as outlined in the original and subsequent indictments, that when it became evident that Mr. Trump had lost the election and that legitimate avenues for challenging the election results had been exhausted, he resorted to a series of criminal actions to retain power.
.
The report claims Trump put “pressure on state officials,” and his Vice President Mike Pence. And how Trump’s supporters attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Smith accused Trump’s supporters of trying to stop Pence from certifying the Electoral College results in the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Until Mr. Trump obstructed it, this democratic process had operated in a peaceful and orderly manner for more than 130 years,” Smith wrote.
Smith said Trump was “not exonerated” of the 4 charges brought against him. But Smith dropped the case after voters handed Trump a historic landslide win in November.
Of his failed attempt to prosecute Trump, Smith said that prosecutors “cannot control outcomes” (of elections), and can only do their jobs “the right way for the right reasons.”
Attorney General Garland’s critics complained that he didn’t appoint a special counsel for 2 years after the Jan. 6 protests in 2021. They claim Trump should have been convicted and sent to prison before the 2024 election.
