The Justice Department delivered part of special counsel Jack Smith's report to Congress early Tuesday morning, and it's revealing. Most of us said that Donald was running for office again to stay out of prison, and Smith's report confirmed that. The special counsel, who resigned last week, said that the evidence would have been sufficient to convict the disgraced former President and upcoming President in a trial had his 2024 election victory not made it impossible for the prosecution to continue.
The New York Times reports:
"The department's view that the Constitution prohibits the continued indictment and prosecution of a president is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the government's proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the office stands fully behind," Mr. Smith wrote.
He continued: "Indeed, but for Mr. Trump's election and imminent return to the presidency, the office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial."
The Justice Department delivered the 137-page volume — representing half of Mr. Smith's overall final report, with the volume about Mr. Trump's other federal case, accusing him of mishandling classified documents, still confidential — to Congress just after midnight on Tuesday.
Via HuffPost:
Trump spent months filing motions to dismiss the election subversion case, invoking everything from vindictive prosecution to total immunity, but was eventually scheduled to go to trial in March 2024. He eventually raised the question of whether presidents were entitled to immunity from prosecution to the Supreme Court, leaving the case in a lurch for weeks until justices ruled, 6-3, that presidents are immune from prosecution for "official" acts and entitled to "presumptive immunity" for unofficial acts.
Smith revised and narrowed the original indictment to reflect the Supreme Court's interpretation of immunity rules. His revised indictment would have forced Trump to defend certain conduct, including his speech from the Ellipse in Washington on Jan. 6 and his calls pressuring election officials to "find" votes for him, as "official" activity instead of campaign activity.
However, because the convicted felon somehow secured the election win against Vice President Kamala Harris, it was dismissed without prejudice. We saw the insurrection unfold with our own eyes, live on TV. Still, Republicans have tried to tell us not to believe what we all witnessed. Donald has vowed to pardon his miscreants who defiled our nation's Capitol and beat police officers with flagpoles. Jack Smith can sleep well, though. He did his job. And so did the Select Committee:
