Judge clears way for Trump election meddling report

President-elect Donald Trump would have been convicted of illegally trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election had he not been elected, according to a Justice Department report released to Congress.

“The admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial,” Special Prosecutor Jack Smith’s report said.

The 137-page document was sent to Congress after Judge Eileen Cannon cleared the way for the release of the first of two parts of Smith’s report on the election interference case.

She ordered a hearing later this week on whether to release the portion of the report dealing with allegations that Trump illegally stored classified government documents.

The newly elected president takes office on January 20.

Special counsel Jack Smith resigned from his post last week.

Smith was appointed in 2022 to oversee the US Department of Justice’s investigations into Trump. Special counsel are selected by the department in cases where there is a potential conflict of interest.

Trump was accused of illegally storing documents and, in some cases, storing them in rooms at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, his residence, which he owns. In the interference case, he was accused of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election result.

Both cases resulted in criminal charges against Trump, who has pleaded not guilty and tried to frame the charges as politically motivated.

But Smith closed the cases after Trump’s election in November, in accordance with Justice Department regulations that bar the prosecution of a sitting president.

In fact, in the published report, Smith said, “The (justice) department’s view that the constitution bars the continued impeachment and prosecution of a president is unequivocal and without prejudice to the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the government’s evidence, or the merits of the prosecution behind which the department stands entirely’.

A legal transfer of materials related to the cases has been ongoing since then.

Last week, Judge Cannon temporarily halted the release of Smith’s entire report over concerns it could affect the cases of two Trump associates charged with him in the classified documents case.

Walt Nauta, Trump’s personal assistant, and Carlos De Oliveira, the property manager at Mar-a-Lago, are accused of helping Trump hide the documents.

Unlike Trump’s, their cases are still pending — and their lawyers have argued that the release of Smith’s report could prejudice a future jury and trial.