USA Investigators: Only re-election spared Trump conviction
According to the special investigator appointed against him, Jack Smith, the future US President Donald Trump was only spared a conviction for electoral fraud thanks to his re-election.
14.01.2025, 12:08
SDA
His office came to the conclusion that "the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction in court", Smith wrote in a report published on Tuesday.
The 130-page document and an attached letter are addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland and have been submitted to Congress, according to US media.
Smith defends the charges against Trump. His team had stood up for the rule of law. "The common thread of all of Mr. Trump's criminal efforts was deception - knowingly making false claims of election fraud - and the evidence shows that Mr. Trump used these lies as a weapon (...)," it continues. In an attached letter, Smith describes Trump's accusations that he took action against the Republican for political reasons and on the instructions of outgoing President Joe Biden as "ridiculous".
Trump rejects accusations
Trump rejected the report on the Truth Social platform, which he co-founded, and wrote that he was "totally innocent". He described Smith as a "moronic prosecutor".
Trump had been indicted in Washington on federal charges in connection with attempted voter fraud and the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. These were the most serious charges against the 78-year-old. If convicted, he would have faced decades in prison. Smith revised the charges in the summer after the Supreme Court granted US presidents far-reaching immunity for official acts.
Proceedings dropped after Trump's re-election
In light of Trump's re-election, Special Prosecutor Smith had requested in November that the proceedings for attempted election fraud be dropped. Smith justified the decision with the custom that the Department of Justice does not take action against sitting presidents. Trump will move back into the White House on January 20, when he takes over from outgoing incumbent Joe Biden.
The Department of Justice probably only beat Trump to the decision. As this is a federal investigation, the US President-elect would probably have halted the investigation after taking office anyway and enforced the termination of the proceedings. Smith has since left the Department of Justice.
