Jack Smith makes case for Trump Jan. 6 prosecution in wake of immunity decision

Special counsel Jack Smith laid out the pathway for his election interference case against Donald Trump in the wake of the Supreme Court’s immunity decision, describing the former president’s bid to thwart the transfer of power as a “private criminal effort.”

The massive, 165-page filing, unsealed Wednesday, comes after the Supreme Court determined that former presidents retain immunity when exercising core constitutional powers and are presumptively immune for all other official acts.

While the court determined Trump’s pressure campaign at the Department of Justice was immune, it remanded the case back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to determine whether the rest of Trump’s actions are protected from prosecution.

“The answer to that question is no,” Smith wrote.

“At its core, the defendant's scheme was a private criminal effort. In his capacity as a candidate he used deceit to target every stage of the electoral process.”

The monster filing offers a window into the case Smith has assembled against Trump, providing more details about the bulk of evidence assembled by prosecutors than was revealed in their 45-page indictment last year.

In particular, the filing reveals new evidence of the former president’s efforts to sway election officials in key swing states to overturn their states’ election results in his favor. 

“When the defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes to try to stay in office. With private co-conspirators, the defendant launched a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results in seven states that he had lost.”

Trump spokesman Steven Cheung called the brief "falsehood-ridden" and "unconstitutional," suggesting it was released after Tuesday's vice presidential debate to cover up vice presidential nominee Tim Walz's "disastrous" debate performance.

"Deranged Jack Smith and Washington DC Radical Democrats are hell-bent on weaponizing the Justice Department in an attempt to cling to power," Cheung said. "President Trump is dominating, and the Radical Democrats throughout the Deep State are freaking out. This entire case is a partisan, Unconstitutional Witch Hunt that should be dismissed entirely, together with ALL of the remaining Democrat hoaxes."

Updated 4:34 p.m.