Former U.S. President Donald Trump "committed crimes" as a private citizen in an attempt to influence the outcome of the 2020 election and should not be immune from prosecution, according to documents filed by Special Counsel Jack Smith in the District of Columbia court, UNN reports citing the BBC.
Details
In a 165-page motion, Smith insists on the need to continue the process against Trump and provides additional evidence of the former US president's attempts to overturn the election results, which were won by Joe Biden.
The date of consideration of the petition has not yet been set, but it is unlikely to be before the elections on November 5, the publication notes.
The US Supreme Court ruled that Trump has partial immunity. Biden called the decision an undermining of the rule of law
The trial was supposed to begin in March, but was postponed pending the Supreme Court's decision on an appeal by Trump's lawyers, who argued that he should be protected from prosecution as a former president.
The highest court considered this issue for the first time and ruled in July that Trump has partial immunity from prosecution for actions taken during his time in the White House.
US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said that the president is immune from prosecution for official actions taken during his tenure, but can be prosecuted for unofficial actions.
After that, Special Prosecutor Smith amended the text of the indictment, removing some of the counts and changing the wording in accordance with the Supreme Court's decision.
In his motion, Smith argues that Trump should not escape criminal prosecution because "his scheme was private in nature.
"The defendant claims that he is immune from prosecution for his criminal plan to revise the results of the 2020 presidential election because, according to him, it was related to official actions. This is not the case," the special prosecutor writes.
According to him, Trump, acting as a candidate and not in his official capacity, "resorted to crimes to try to stay in office.
"Together with private co-conspirators, the defendant launched a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legal election results in the seven states in which he lost," Smith said.
According to the prosecution, Trump's efforts included lying to officials, tampering with ballots, and attempts to get Vice President Mike Pence to prevent Biden's victory from being certified in Congress.
When all else failed, Smith concludes, Trump sent an "angry mob" of his supporters to the Capitol.
Trump said on his social network Truth Social: "Democrats are Weaponizing the Justice Department against me because they know I am WINNING."
"This is a blatant misconduct by the prosecutor, and it [the motion] should not have been made public right before the election," he added.
Trump, who has repeatedly denied all prosecutors' charges (both initial and revised), said that the trial would end in a "complete victory.
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