In a now unsealed 165-page brief, we get more insight into Trump’s actions before and during the Jan. 6 riot in the Capitol.
Special counsel Jack Smith has argued that Trump does not have immunity from prosecution and that he was a ‘desperate candidate’ trying to hold on to power as a ‘civilian,’ not as President.
For instance, we now know that when Trump was told Pence’s life was in danger (because of his tweets), trump replied callously: ‘So What?’
In another revelation, when a campaign aide warned a Trump ‘operative’ ― both of whose names have been blacked out ― that attempts to block vote counting in Detroit could lead to unrest, the operative responded, “Make them riot” and “Do it!!!
And again, when a lawyer told Trump that he had no legal case, Trump replied that “the details don’t matter.”
Jack Smith writes, “If Pence would not do as he asked (certify the election for Trump), the defendant needed to find another way to prevent the certification of Biden as president. So on January 6, the defendant sent to the Capitol a crowd of angry supporters, whom the defendant had called to the city, and inundated with false claims of outcome determinative election fraud, to induce Pence not to certify the legitimate electoral votes and to obstruct the certification.”
Naturally, Trump railed against the release of the new Jan. 6 in all-caps tweets.