WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� laid the groundwork to try to overturn the 2020 election even before he lost, knowingly pushed false claims of voter fraud and 鈥渞esorted to crimes鈥� in his failed bid to cling to power, according to unsealed Wednesday that offers new evidence from the against the former president.
The filing from special counsel Jack Smith's team offers the most comprehensive view to date of what prosecutors intend to prove if the case charging Trump with conspiring to overturn the election reaches trial. and the indictment itself have chronicled in stark detail Trump's efforts to undo the election, the filing cites previously unknown accounts offered by Trump's closest aides to paint a portrait of an 鈥渋ncreasingly desperate鈥� president who, while losing his grip on the White House, 鈥渦sed deceit to target every stage of the electoral process.鈥�
鈥淪o what?鈥� the filing quotes Trump as telling an aide after being advised that his vice president, Mike Pence, had been rushed to a secure location after a crowd of violent Trump supporters stormed the on Jan. 6, 2021, to try to prevent the counting of electoral votes.
鈥淭he details don't matter,鈥� Trump said, when told by an adviser that a lawyer who was mounting his legal challenges wouldn鈥檛 be able to prove the false allegations in court, the filing states.
The brief was made public over the Trump legal team鈥檚 objections in the final month of a closely contested presidential race in which Democrats have sought to make Trump鈥檚 refusal to accept the election results four years ago central to their claims that he is unfit for office. The issue flared as recently as Tuesday night鈥檚 when Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, lamented the violence at the Capitol while a Republican opponent, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, refused to directly answer when asked whether Trump had lost the 2020 race.
The filing was submitted, initially under seal, following a that conferred broad immunity on former presidents for official acts they take in office, a decision that narrowed the scope of the prosecution and eliminated the possibility of a trial before next month's election.
The purpose of the brief is to persuade U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan that the offenses charged in the indictment were undertaken in Trump's private, rather than presidential, capacity and can therefore remain part of the case as it moves forward. Chutkan permitted a redacted version to be made public, that it was unfair to unseal it so close to the election.
Though the prospects of a trial are uncertain, particularly if Trump wins the presidency and a new attorney general seeks the dismissal of the case, the brief nonetheless functions as a roadmap for the testimony and evidence prosecutors would elicit before a jury. It is now up to Chutkan to decide which of Trump's acts are official conduct for which Trump is immune from prosecution and which are, in the words of Smith's team, 鈥減rivate crimes鈥� on which the case can proceed.
鈥淎lthough the defendant was the incumbent President during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally a private one,鈥� Smith鈥檚 team wrote, adding, 鈥淲hen the defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes to try to stay in office.鈥�
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung called the brief 鈥渇alsehood-ridden鈥� and 鈥渦nconstitutional鈥� and repeated oft-stated allegations that Smith and Democrats were 鈥渉ell-bent on weaponizing the Justice Department." Trump, in a separate post on his Truth Social platform, said the case would end with his 鈥渃omplete victory.鈥�
The filing alleges that Trump 鈥渓aid the groundwork鈥� for rejecting the election results before the contest was over, telling advisers that in the event he held an early lead he would 鈥渄eclare victory before the ballots were counted and any winner was projected.鈥�
Immediately after the election, prosecutors say, his advisers sought to sow chaos in the counting of votes. In one instance, a campaign employee described as a Trump co-conspirator was told that results favoring Democrat Joe Biden at a Michigan polling center appeared accurate. The person is alleged to have replied: 鈥渇ind a reason it isnt鈥� and 鈥済ive me options to file litigation.鈥�
Prosecutors also alleged that Trump advanced claims of fraud despite knowing they were false, recounting how he conceded to others that allegations of election irregularities made by attorney Sidney Powell were 鈥渃razy鈥� and referenced the science fiction series 鈥淪tar Trek.鈥� Even so, days later, he promoted on Twitter a lawsuit she was about to file.
In demonstrating his apparent indifference to the accuracy of the election fraud claims, prosecutors also cite an account of a White House staffer who after the election overheard Trump telling his wife, daughter and son-in-law on Marine One: 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter if you won or lost the election. You still have to fight like hell.鈥�
The filing also includes details of conversations between Trump and Pence, including a private lunch on Nov. 12, 2020, in which Pence 鈥渞eiterated a face-saving option鈥� for Trump, telling him, 鈥淒on鈥檛 concede but recognize the process is over.鈥�
In another lunch days later, Pence urged Trump to accept the election results and run again in 2024.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know, 2024 is so far off,鈥� Trump told him, the filing states.
Prosecutors say that by Dec. 5, the defendant was starting to think about Congress鈥� role in the process.
鈥淔or the first time, he mentioned to Pence the possibility of challenging the election results in the House of Representatives,鈥� it says, citing a phone call.
But, prosecutors wrote, Trump 鈥渄isregarded鈥� Pence 鈥渋n the same way he disregarded dozens of court decisions that unanimously rejected his and his allies鈥� legal claims, and that he disregarded officials in the targeted states 鈥� including those in his own party 鈥� who stated publicly that he had lost and that his specific fraud allegations were false.鈥�
Pence chronicled , and his eventual split with him, in a 2022 book called 鈥淪o Help Me God.鈥� He also was ordered to investigating Trump after courts rejected claims of executive privilege.
Prosecutors also argue Trump used his Twitter account to spread false claims of election fraud, attacking 鈥渢hose speaking the truth鈥� about his loss and exhorting his supporters to travel to Washington for the Jan. 6, 2021, certification.
They intend to use 鈥渇orensic evidence鈥� from Trump鈥檚 iPhone to provide insight into Trump鈥檚 actions after the Capitol attack.
Of the more than 1,200 Tweets Trump sent during the weeks detailed in the indictment, prosecutors say, the vast majority were about the 2020 election, including those falsely claiming Pence could reject electors even though the vice president had told Trump that he had no such power.
That 鈥渟teady stream of disinformation鈥� culminated in his speech at the Ellipse on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, where Trump 鈥渦sed these lies to inflame and motivate the large and angry crowd of his supporters to march to the Capitol and disrupt the certification proceeding,鈥� prosecutors wrote.
His 鈥減ersonal desperation was at its zenith鈥� that morning as he was 鈥渙nly hours from the certification proceeding that spelled the end,鈥� prosecutors wrote.
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Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
Eric Tucker And Alanna Durkin Richer, The Associated Press
