Justice Department Releases Volume One of Smith's Final Report, Which Says the Evidence Was Sufficient to Convict Trump but for His Election
In the early hours of January 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice transmitted Volume One of Special Counsel Jack Smith's final report to Congress and released it to the public, a day after U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida denied an emergency request to block its release. The report, dated January 7, sets out Smith's investigation and prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump over alleged efforts to interfere with the lawful transfer of power after the 2020 presidential election; its first volume is subtitled "The Election Case."
In his cover letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Smith wrote that the Department's view that the Constitution prohibits prosecuting a sitting 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 his office stood fully behind. "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," he wrote. The report describes Trump's effort to overturn the legitimate results of the election in order to retain power as an "unprecedented criminal effort."
The report also discloses that prosecutors considered charging Trump with inciting insurrection, but found no precedent of a defendant charged with insurrection for acting within the government to maintain power, rather than to overthrow it from the outside, and ultimately did not bring that charge. In his letter, Smith said his team "stood up for the rule of law" and called it "laughable" that anyone would suggest his decisions were influenced or directed by the Biden administration or other political actors.
After Trump won the November 2024 election, Smith, following the Justice Department's longstanding policy against prosecuting a sitting president, moved to dismiss both the election case and the classified documents case, and courts granted both motions; Smith resigned on January 10. Volume Two, covering Trump's handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, was withheld from public release while the case against two co-defendants remained pending, and was made available only to the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees under conditions barring wider disclosure.
Trump responded on social media that Smith had released "fake findings" at 1:00 a.m. The allegations in the report were never tested at trial, and Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Related: Special Counsel Jack Smith Moves to Dismiss Both Federal Criminal Cases Against Trump
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿的美国司法部总部罗伯特·F·肯尼迪大楼。（APK 摄，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons） / Photo: The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, headquarters of the U.S. Department of Justice, in Washington. (APK, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
