Trump 'resorted to crimes' after losing 2020 U.S. election, prosecutors say
CTV
Donald Trump 'resorted to crimes' after losing the 2020 election, federal prosecutors said in a court filing unsealed Wednesday.
Donald Trump “resorted to crimes” after losing the 2020 election, federal prosecutors said in a court filing unsealed Wednesday that argues that the former U.S. president disregarded the advice of his vice-president and other aides and is not entitled to immunity from prosecution over his failed bid to remain in power.
The filing was submitted by special counsel Jack Smith's team following a Supreme Court opinion that conferred broad immunity on former presidents for official acts they take in office, narrowing the scope of the prosecution charging Trump with conspiring to overturn the results of the election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
The purpose of the brief is to convince U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan that the offenses charged in the indictment are private, rather than official, acts and can therefore remain part of the indictment as the case moves forward.
“Although the defendant was the incumbent President during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally a private one,” Smith’s team said, adding, “When the defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes to try to stay in office."
Those include efforts to persuade former vice-president Mike Pence to refuse to certify the counting of the electoral votes on the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021.
The filing includes details of conversations between Trump and Pence, including a private lunch the two had on Nov. 12, 2020, in which Pence “reiterated a face-saving option” for Trump, telling him, “don’t concede but recognize the process is over,” according to prosecutors.
In another private lunch days later, Pence urged Trump to accept the results of the election and run again in 2024.
