Trump 'resorted to crimes' in attempt to retain power in 2020
Photo: former US President Donald Trump (getty images)
Donald Trump laid the groundwork for his attempt to overturn the 2020 election before his defeat, deliberately making false claims of voter fraud, and "resorted to crimes," according to AP.
"Although the defendant was the incumbent President during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally a private one. When the defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes to try to stay in office," reads a filing from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team.
The document claims Trump set the stage for rejecting the election results before the vote was concluded, telling advisers that if he was leading early on, he would "declare victory before the ballots were counted and any winner was projected."
Immediately after the election, prosecutors say, Trump’s advisers sought to sow chaos in the vote count. In one instance, a campaign staffer, described as a Trump ally, was informed that the results favoring Democrat Joe Biden at a Michigan voting precinct appeared accurate. Allegedly, this person responded, "Find a reason it isn't" and "Give me options to file litigation."
The document reveals that Trump made claims of fraud despite knowing they were false. He admitted that the election fraud allegations made by his attorney were ridiculous, referring to the science fiction series Star Trek.
Prosecutors also assert that Trump used his Twitter (X) account to spread false claims of election fraud, attack truth-tellers about his defeat, and call on his supporters to come to Washington on January 6, 2021, when the Capitol was stormed.
In December 2023, a federal judge granted Trump’s request to pause the trial scheduled for March of the following year concerning obstruction of the 2020 election, as the former president filed for full immunity from criminal charges.
In August 2024, the US District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington decided to resume the case.
