Prosecutors Lay Out Evidence Against Trump In Jan. 6 In Now-Unsealed 165-Page Brief

WASHINGTON In a 165-page court filing unsealed Wednesday, federal prosecutors laid out their evidence against Donald Trump on four felony charges for his conduct leading up to and during his Jan. 6, 2021, coup attempt.

This motion provides a comprehensive account of the defendants private criminal conduct; sets forth the legal framework created by Trump for resolving immunity claims; applies that framework to establish that none of the defendants charged conduct is immunized because it either was unofficial or any presumptive immunity is rebutted; and requests the relief the government seeks, which is, at bottom, this: that the court determine that the defendant must stand trial for his private crimes as would any other citizen, special counsel Jack Smith wrote.

The question of immunity became key thanks to a July Supreme Court ruling stating that all official acts done by a president are immune from prosecution, but left it to the trial court to determine whether Trumps attempt to remain in power were official.

The answer to that question is no, Smith argued.

The filing was unsealed by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, the judge in the case. It can be read here .

Trumps lawyers had argued that everything their client did leading up to Jan. 6 was covered by the Supreme Court ruling, and requested that Chutkan not allow the public to see any of the evidence Smith has collected against Trump.

Chutkan rejected that and, in a order also filed Wednesday, ruled that Smith would be permitted to file a version of his brief with some names and details redacted. Wednesdays brief by Smith is riddled with blacked-out words and phrases in the section providing the narrative of the indictment.

The plot detailed by Smith shows an effort unconcerned with the truth, even if it could lead to rioting.

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!!!

The defendants campaign operatives and supporters used similar tactics at other tabulation centers, including in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the defendant sometimes used the resulting confrontations to falsely claim that his election observers were being denied proper access, Smith wrote.

When one of his private lawyers, apparently a childhood friend of Jared Kushner , repeatedly told Trump that he had lost and that the legal cases were not going to succeed, Trump replied that the details dont matter, Smith wrote.

Smiths brief also portrays Trumps vice president, Mike Pence , as a key witness who repeatedly told Trump he had lost and to look ahead to 2024 instead.

During a private lunch with Trump on Nov. 12, 2020, Pence reiterated a face-saving option for the defendant: dont concede but recognize the process is over.

In another private lunch on Dec. 21, Pence encouraged the defendant not to look at the election as a loss just as an intermission.

Smith said Trump and his co-conspirators who have not been indicted simply made up figures out of whole cloth, and then provided Arizona as an example.

The conspirators started with the allegation that 36,000 non-citizens voted in Arizona; five days later, it was beyond credulity that a few hundred thousand didnt vote, he wrote. Three weeks later, the bare minimum [was] 40 or 50,000. The reality is about 250,000; days after that, the assertion was 32,000, and ultimately, the conspirators landed back where they started, at 36,000, a false figure that they never verified or corroborated.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.