In court documents released Wednesday, federal prosecutors said Donald Trump is not immune from prosecution over the January 6 riot because he acted in a private capacity and was advised by private advisers. he claimed.
The indictment alleges that Trump acted in a private rather than official capacity, citing a July U.S. Supreme Court ruling that former presidents enjoy broad immunity from criminal prosecution for their official actions. I am trying to prove this claim.
It also reveals further details about President Trump’s alleged mood and actions (or lack of actions) that day, based on evidence provided in previous briefs.
In response to the new filing, Trump campaign spokesman Stephen Chan said the brief was “filled with lies” and “unconstitutional.” President Trump, in all caps, called it “complete and utter election interference” in Truth Social magazine.
“Basically private” scheme
The new court filing names Trump as a “defendant” and says his plans for that day were “fundamentally private” and therefore unrelated to his duties as president, but rather He claims it is related to his work as a presidential candidate.
“The defendants claim that their criminal plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election is immune from prosecution because it involves an official act. That is not the case. Although he was the current president of the United States, his plans were essentially private.
“He acted as a candidate in his private capacity, making extensive use of civilian and campaign infrastructure in an effort to overturn the election results.”
The filing looks back to Election Day regarding President Trump’s use of personal advisers. “When Election Day arrived on Nov. 4, the race was too close to predict a winner, and in discussions about what the defendants should say publicly about the election, senior advisers The defendant should have shown restraint while the count continued. However, two private advisors advocated a different course, with (name redacted) and (name redacted) suggesting that the defendant only declare victory. Then, at approximately 2:20 a.m., the defendant spoke on television to a crowd of campaign supporters, falsely claiming, without evidence or specifics, that the election was rigged and that he had won. ”
On January 4, the White House general counsel was excluded from a meeting in which Trump tried to pressure Pence to overturn the election results, according to the filing. The filing says it is “hard to imagine stronger evidence” that Trump’s conduct was private, with only his personal attorney present.
A presidential candidate sits alone in a diner, watching Twitter and Fox News.
President Trump’s day on Jan. 6 began at 1 a.m. with a tweet pressuring Pence to block the certification of the results. Seven hours later, at 8:17 a.m., President Trump tweeted about the incident again. Just before his Ellipse speech, Trump called Pence and again pressed him to “incite the next Congress to do something illegal” to certify the election results. Mr. Pence refused.
At this point, Trump “decided to reinsert into his campaign speech an elliptical statement targeting Pence for refusing to abuse his role in certification,” according to the filing.
Trump gave a speech, and the certification process began at 1 p.m. at the Capitol.
Trump, meanwhile, was “settled in the dining room outside the Oval Office, where he spent the afternoon checking Twitter on his phone while a TV in the dining room simulcast events at the Capitol.” A Fox News report was broadcast.
President Trump watched from his dining room as a crowd of supporters marched toward the Capitol. He had been there for less than an hour: “At approximately 2:24 p.m., Fox News reported that a police officer may have been injured and that ‘protesters… entered the Capitol.’ I reported it.”
“At 2:24 p.m., President Trump tweeted, “Mike Pence did not have the courage to do what needed to be done to protect our country and our Constitution.” did not provide an opportunity to certify the corrected facts that were previously requested to be certified. America demands the truth!
The submitted document states: “The content of the 2:24 p.m. tweet was not a message sent to address public concerns and allay fears. It was the message of an angry candidate who realized he was losing power. .”
A minute later, the Secret Service evacuated Mr. Pence to a safe location.
When told that Pence had been evacuated, President Trump said, “So what?”
The filing says Trump said, “So what?” After being informed that Mr. Pence was then taken to a safe location.
The indictment says the government does not intend to use the exchange in court. However, he claims that the tweet itself was “unofficial.”
The filing says that when the news network predicted a Biden victory on Nov. 7, Pence “sought to promote Trump as a friend.” This also leads to claims that Trump acted in his personal capacity.
Mr Pence reportedly told Mr Trump: “You have given new life to a dying party.”
Anyway, “fight like hell”
According to the filing, Trump was overheard telling family members during the effort to overturn the election results, “It doesn’t matter if we lose…We have to fight to the death.”
“At some point, long after the defendant began spreading false fraud claims, a White House official traveling with the defendant (name redacted) stated that the defendant told his family, “It doesn’t matter whether we won or lost the election.” It doesn’t matter.” You still have to fight hard.”
President Trump knew his claims were false
The submitted documents state as follows: “The evidence shows that the defendants knew that his claims of fraud were false because he was acting in a personal or campaign-related capacity, not in an official capacity. However, even after I told him that he was making such a claim, the defendant continued to make such a claim.”
Some of those advisers include White House lawyers who represented Trump during his first impeachment trial in the Senate in 2019 and 2020, according to filings. A staff member known as P9 was also included.
In one private conversation, “P9 repeatedly told the defendant (name redacted) that he could not prove the false fraud charges in court, and the defendant responded, “The details don’t matter. ” he answered.
At one point after the election, P9 told Trump that “the campaign is investigating his claims of fraud and has hired outside experts to do so, but we have found nothing to support them.” he said.
He told the defendants that if the campaign brought these claims to court, they would be killed because they were all “bullshit.” ”
