Special Counsel: No presidential immunity for Trump in election manipulation proceedings

According to the special investigator in charge, former US President Donald Trump can be tried and convicted of election manipulation despite a Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity. In his attempts to prevent the announcement of his 2020 election defeat, Trump acted privately and therefore could not invoke presidential immunity, special prosecutor Jack Smith said in a court document released on Wednesday (local time). Trump, who will run again in the US presidential election on November 5th, reacted angrily.

The document released by the responsible judge Tanya Chutkan contains 165 pages of text that has been largely redacted. Smith argues: “At their core, the defendant’s actions were a private criminal act.” Trump acted as a candidate and not in his official capacity as president and committed crimes to maintain his power.

The special investigator further accuses Trump that after his defeat by the current Democratic US President Joe Biden in the 2020 election, the Republican “forged a series of increasingly desperate plans with the help of private accomplices” to “obstruct the legitimate election results in seven states that he had lost, to tip over”. Trump made extensive use of private actors and the structures of his campaign team for his project.

In July, at Trump’s request, the US Supreme Court granted the US president extensive immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts. However, this protection does not apply to actions classified as private.

Trump is accused, among other things, of lying to public officials and falsifying votes. He also tried to prevent the certification of Biden’s election victory by the US Congress.

The Capitol was stormed by fanatical Trump supporters on January 6, 2021, when Biden’s election victory was to be officially certified there under the leadership of Trump’s then Vice President Mike Pence. Trump had previously incited his supporters in a speech with the out-of-the-air accusation that Biden’s election victory had come about through fraud.

Smith explains in the now published court document that Trump reacted unmoved to the storming of the Capitol. When he was informed that Pence had to be taken to a safe place because of the violence in the Parliament building, the then US President said “So what?” Reacts.

According to the special counsel, there is ample evidence that Trump knew his election fraud allegations were groundless. Someone from the White House staff at the time is prepared to testify that after the election, Trump said to his wife, daughter and son-in-law during a helicopter flight that it “doesn’t matter whether you won or lost the election. You still have to Fight like hell.”

Trump sharply criticized Judge Chutkan’s release of the document containing Smith’s allegations for publication on his online network Truth Social. “The Democrats are using the Justice Department as a weapon against me because they know that I will win,” said the right-wing populist, referring to his renewed candidacy for president in the election on November 5th. “This is egregious prosecutorial misconduct and should not have been made public right before the election.”

Trump’s lawyers have taken various steps to delay the start of the trial against the ex-president. Trump will run again as the Republican presidential candidate on November 5th, his Democratic opponent is Vice President Kamala Harris.

A trial in the election manipulation case is not expected before the presidential election. If Trump wins the election, he could order the proceedings to be closed.

Trump is the first former US president in history to be criminally convicted: He was convicted in a New York trial over hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels. He is also charged at the federal level with election conspiracy.