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Donald Trump bears “the greatest culpability” for the January 6 riots and will be convicted in court if the case goes to trial, according to explosive testimony from former special prosecutor Jack SmithIt was released Wednesday afternoon by the House Judiciary Committee.
Smith led the Justice Department’s two prosecutions of Trump: the first for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters following his 2020 election loss; and the second for allegedly concealing classified material at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. he testified In a closed session of the Judiciary Committee In early December, the committee was investigating Whether Trump becomes a political target for Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Justice Department under President Joe Biden.
Trump’s 2024 election victory ends the Justice Department’s efforts to hold him criminally accountable. Many experts and Democrats in Congress are frustrated with the Biden administration because the Justice Department delayed for a year before directly confirming that it was investigating Trump for the attack on the Capitol; he was not indicted on election charges until August 2023.
House Republicans released the testimony on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve, when Congress was in recess and Washington was still largely deserted for the holidays, as they largely failed to prove any connection between Smith’s prosecution and the Biden administration. The president’s accusations of weaponizing politics have been largely overshadowed by his own public efforts to target the likes of James Comey and Letitia James.
Smith’s 225 pages of testimony revealed the following:
- Trump’s actions “undoubtedly” increased the danger faced by Vice President Mike Pence, who was at the Capitol during the riot and was targeted by Trump supporters, some of whom chanted “Hang Mike Pence”;
- Smith argued that the Supreme Court’s ruling on executive immunity did not confirm that the president’s actions before January 6 were lawful;
- Smith’s case relied heavily on testimony from Republicans who “put loyalty to country above party”;
- The president asked Georgia officials to “find” more than 11,000 ballots, which Smith viewed as evidence of criminal intent;
- Smith has “no doubt” the president is seeking political revenge against him for bringing the cases.
During the 2024 campaign, Trump argued that he had done nothing illegal and that the prosecutions were an attempt to punish him and block his political efforts to return to the White House.
Smith told the committee he believed he could have been convicted of what many consider the most serious charge: conspiring to deprive Americans of a free and fair election by pushing to overturn the 2020 election.
“Our investigation proves beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in a criminal plan to overturn the results of the 2020 election and prevent the lawful transfer of power,” Smith said.
The former special prosecutor said his case relied heavily on testimony from Republican state officials, Similar to survey Introduced by the bipartisan House Committee on January 6, 2021.
“President Trump is in large part the most reprehensible and responsible person in this conspiracy. These crimes were committed to his benefit. The attack on the Capitol that was part of this case would not have happened without him,” Smith told lawmakers.
Asked about the violence that day, Smith said: “Our view of the evidence is that it was an incident that he caused, that he took advantage of, and that it was foreseeable to him.”
Addressing accusations that his investigations are politically motivated, he said he would prosecute on the same basis regardless of whether those responsible were Democrats or Republicans, and said he had no contact with former President Joe Biden about the investigations.
Smith’s office also oversaw an investigation into Trump’s alleged illegal seizure of White House documents at Mar-a-Lago, for which he was criminally charged.
Shortly after the committee released Smith’s testimony, Trump wrote in a Truth Society post on Sunday that Democrats were “liars” and attacked the party for not supporting voter ID. He has long claimed that efforts to prosecute him for the Jan. 6 riot amount to Biden weaponizing the Justice Department against him.
The president continues to frequently insist that the 2020 election was stolen, including most recently During a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Under pressure from Republicans, Smith acknowledged that the president’s statements were merely expressions of views protected by the First Amendment and insisted that Trump had crossed a line by reaching out to public officials and asking them to follow his orders, as was the case with the infamous call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which the president asked Raffensperger to “find” more than 11,000 votes to change the state’s election results.
“As we allege in the indictment, he was free to say that he believed he won the election. He was even free to falsely say that he won the election,” Smith said. “But he had no authority to violate federal law and knowingly used false statements about election fraud to attack legitimate government functions.”
The Jan. 6 riot lasted several hours, and Trump initially declined to issue a video statement calling on his supporters to leave the neighborhood, according to the House inquiry. The president initially said he would join the rioters at the Capitol, after Trump delivered a speech in front of the White House in which he again accused Republicans and Democrats of engaging in election fraud.
Massive crowds rushed from the White House to Capitol Hill, besieging it for hours and clashing with police, injuring dozens of officers. The perimeter was breached and protesters stormed the building, chanting calls for violence against top officials, including Vice President and then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, while defacing the building.
Lawmakers huddled in secure areas and at one point, rioters tried to break in, leaving one protester dead and trapped inside the main chamber.
Smith rejected claims made repeatedly by Republican members of Congress in the aftermath of the attack that it was “peaceful anyway.”
“There were definitely people in the Capitol who were armed,” Smith said. “I remember it very clearly. There were people who used weapons on police officers, whether it was sticks, rods or other weapons. I know there was one police officer who had his gun taken away. So to use a weapon on a law enforcement officer, that’s outrageous.”
Smith said that even in the hours after the attack, the president was actively trying to persuade members of the U.S. Senate to delay certification of the election. He cited testimony from Trump ally Boris Epshteyn, who told the Justice Department that the White House spent the evening trying to contact senators including Lindsey Graham.
Smith went on to say that when Trump won the election, he was still considering charging other co-conspirators in the election conspiracy case, making it a moot issue.
The special counsel’s office was shut down, and Smith resigned in January 2025, 10 days before Trump took office. Justice Department policy prohibits the agency from investigating or prosecuting a sitting president. Shortly after Trump was inaugurated, several lawyers Who has worked with Smith’s team? Fired from the agency.
Smith said at the hearing that he had no doubt Trump wanted “revenge” on him for investigating him. “So I keep my eyes open that this president will seek retribution against me if he can. I know that,” he said.