US prosecutors say Donald Trump was acting outside of his duties as president when he pressured federal officials and then US vice president Mike Pence to try to reverse his defeat in the 2020 election, in a court filing made public on Wednesday.
The 165-page filing may be the last chance for prosecutors to detail their case against Trump before the Nov. 5 election, given that there will be no trial before Trump faces Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the election.
The filing is intended to keep the criminal tampering case against the Republican presidential candidate from moving forward following the U.S. Supreme Court’s July ruling that former presidents are immune from prosecution for their official acts in office.
Prosecutors working with Special Counsel Jack Smith have laid out a full history of Trump’s behavior following the 2020 US election, much of which has been revealed through news reports, the findings of the House committee investigating Capitol violence or the indictment of Smith.
It also includes allegations that a White House staffer overheard Trump telling family members that “it doesn’t matter if you win or lose the election. You still have to fight like hell.”
Trump has pleaded not guilty to four counts of conspiracy to tamper with election certification, to defraud the United States of the exact results and to interfere with the voting rights of Americans.
Connecting with Pence
Much of the coverage focused on Trump’s interactions with former vice president and vice president Mike Pence, whom Trump tried to pressure to use his official role of overseeing the US Congress on January 6, 2021, to certify the election results to reverse his defeat.
Trump delivered a fiery speech that day before his supporters stormed the US Capitol, fighting police, sending lawmakers fleeing for their lives and chanting “hang Mike Pence.”
Prosecutors said that when a White House aide told Trump, who had been watching news of the violence on television, that Pence had been taken to a safe place, Trump replied “what happened?”
Prosecutors say they do not plan to use those communications at trial given the Supreme Court’s ruling.
It also suspects that on Jan. 1, 2021, Trump warned Pence that people will “hate your guts” and “think you’re stupid” if he doesn’t block the certification of Democratic President Joe Biden.
Trump’s spokesman, Steven Cheung, dismissed the revelations, saying, “This entire case is a partisan, unconstitutional, Witch Hunt that should be completely dismissed, along with ALL remaining Democrats.”
Trump refuses to face prosecution
Trump has dismissed the case and several other criminal charges he has faced this year as political attempts to prevent him from returning to power.
The filing presents a detailed account of the evidence that prosecutors intend to use at trial, accusing Trump of conspiring before the election to declare an early victory, instead of his campaign lawyers who said they would not support allegations of voter fraud. “manipulating” Pence to help his bid for power.
The filing provides details of interviews with senior Trump administration officials, including Pence and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who appeared before a grand jury during the investigation.
Prosecutors filed the documents in court Thursday, but US District Judge Tanya Chutkan had to approve the proposed withdrawal before it could be made public.
Pence is mentioned by name throughout. The names of many of the other members of the Trump administration and the state officials he targeted are blacked out in the file, although details of their locations and actions make their identities clear.
Trump’s lawyers argued against allowing Smith to testify in court, saying it would be inappropriate to do so in the weeks before the election. They said the entire case should be dismissed according to the decision of the Supreme Court.
If Trump wins the election, he is likely to direct the US Department of Justice to drop the charges.
Prosecutors also highlighted a tweet Trump sent during the Capitol violence saying Pence “didn’t have the guts to do what should have been done” during the congressional nomination process.
The prosecutors said that this message “was not a message sent to deal with an issue of concern to the public and to calm the chaos; it was a message of an angry person who saw that he was about to lose his power.”