Trump would have been convicted over 2020 but for re-election, says report

Donald Trump would have been convicted of crimes over his failed attempt to cling to power in 2020 but for his victory in last year's US presidential election, according to the special counsel who investigated him.

- David Smith

Jack Smith's report detailing his team's findings about Trump's efforts to subvert democracy was released by the justice department early yesterday.

After the insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, Smith was appointed as special counsel to investigate Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. His investigation culminated in a detailed report submitted to the attorney general, Merrick Garland.

In it, Smith asserts that he believes the evidence would have been sufficient to convict Trump in a trial if his success in the 2024 election had not made it impossible for the prosecution to continue.

"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," Smith writes.

"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."

Trump was impeached for his role in spurring the January 6 riot, accused by a congressional panel of taking part in a "multi-part conspiracy," and ultimately indicted by the justice department on four counts, including "conspiracy to defraud" the US. Trump pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

After the release, Trump, in a post on his Truth Social site, called Smith a "lamebrain prosecutor who was unable to get his case tried before the election".