President-elect Donald Trump would have been convicted of illegally trying to tamper with the results of the 2020 presidential election had he not been elected, according to a Justice Department report sent to Congress.
“The admissible evidence is sufficient to sustain a conviction in the case,” said Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report.
The 137-page document was sent to Congress after Judge Aileen Cannon cleared the way for the release of the first of two parts of Smith’s report – the election meddling case.
He ordered a hearing later this week on whether to release part of the report on Trump’s alleged illegal retention of classified government documents.
The president-elect takes office on January 20.
The special counsel, Jack Smith, resigned from his position last week.
Smith was appointed in 2022 to oversee the US Department of Justice’s investigation into Trump. Special advisers are appointed by the department in cases where there is a conflict of interest.
Trump has been accused of illegally storing documents and, in some cases, storing them in rooms at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, his residence. In the interference case, he was accused of plotting to overthrow the result of the 2020 election.
Both cases led to criminal charges against Trump, who pleaded not guilty and sought prosecution as politically motivated.
But Smith dropped the charges after Trump’s election in November, in accordance with Justice Department rules that prohibit prosecution of a sitting president.
Indeed, in the released report, Smith says: “For the department [of justice] the view that the Constitution prohibits the continued impeachment and prosecution of the president is procedural and does not address the gravity of the charges against him, the strength of the government’s evidence or the merits of the prosecution, which the office fully supports.”
Since then, there has been a legal backlash regarding matters related to the cases.
Last week, Judge Cannon temporarily halted the release of the entire Smith report, out of concern that it could affect the charges against two Trump associates in the classified documents case.
Walt Nauta, a Trump aide, and Carlos De Oliveira, the property manager at Mar-a-Lago, are accused of helping Trump hide the documents.
Unlike Trump’s, their cases are still pending — and their attorneys argue that the release of Smith’s report could interfere with the jury’s future trial.