That’s actually a pretty good headline for a change:
Jack Smith, the special counsel who indicted President-elect Donald J. Trump on charges of seeking to cling to power after losing the 2020 election, said in a final report released early Tuesday morning that he believed the evidence was sufficient to convict Mr. Trump in a trial if his success in the 2024 election had not made it impossible for the prosecution to continue.
“The department’s view that the Constitution prohibits the continued indictment and prosecution of a president is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the government’s proof or the merits of the prosecution, which the office stands fully behind,” Mr. Smith wrote.
He continued: “Indeed, but for Mr. Trump’s election and imminent return to the presidency, the office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.”
The Justice Department delivered the 137-page volume — representing half of Mr. Smith’s overall final report, with the volume about the classified documents case still confidential — to Congress just after midnight Tuesday morning.
The report, obtained by The New York Times, amounted to an extraordinary rebuke of a president-elect, capping a momentous legal saga that saw the man now poised to regain the powers of the nation’s highest office charged with crimes that struck at the heart of American democracy. And although Mr. Smith resigned as special counsel late last week, his recounting of the case also served as a reminder of the vast array of evidence and detailed accounting of Mr. Trump’s actions that he had marshaled.
I read it. (Being on the West Coast made it easier) It’s what we know but with all the legal analysis that led them to conclude that Trump had committed crimes — even after the Supremes dropped their ridiculous immunity bomb.
It’s pretty clear from the report, although he doesn’t say it, that he believes the Supreme Court decision was an abomination, not least because it left so many loose ends that it would have taken years to unravel (which I assume was a feature not a bug.) I’d guess that was all for the purpose of protecting Dear Leader had he lost the election. They were never going to let him be tried. I think they would have dragged it out until he was in his grave if need be.
I have not read all the footnotes where I assume any juicy tidbits are. I’ll try to take a closer look later but I would guess that Emptywheel is already on it anyway. Just reading the summary recounting once again what a lying, corrupt cretin he is is overwhelmingly depressing. More people voted for this criminal pig than didn’t because the price of eggs was too high and a bunch of others stayed home because they just didn’t give a shit.
It’s just too much.