Election win spares Trump conviction

Justice Dept releases special counsel report on 2020 election case

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WASHINGTON:

US President-elect Donald Trump would have been convicted for his alleged effort to overturn the 2020 election result if he hadn't been re-elected four years later, said a report by then special counsel Jack Smith released early Tuesday.

In a case that never went to trial, Trump, who returns to the White House on Monday, was accused of conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.

However, the US Department of Justice'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," said the report, which was released after midnight.

"Indeed, but for Mr. Trump's election and imminent return to the Presidency, the (Special Counsel's) Office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial."

The proceeding referred to in the charges was the session of Congress called to certify President Joe Biden's election win that was violently attacked on January 6, 2021, by a mob of Trump's supporters who stormed the US Capitol.

Smith, who was special counsel appointed to investigate Trump, dropped the case after the Republican won November's presidential election, citing the Justice Department's policy of not prosecuting a sitting president. Trump, 78, hit back on his Truth Social platform soon after the report's release, calling Smith "deranged", and adding that he "was unable to successfully prosecute the Political Opponent of his 'boss'."

"To show you how desperate Deranged Jack Smith is, he released his Fake findings at 1:00 A.M. in the morning," Trump added in another post. Trump's attorneys had earlier urged US Attorney General Merrick Garland not to release the report, calling the plan to disclose it "unlawful, undertaken in bad faith, and contrary to the public interest."