Jack Smith files huge docs in Trump election fraud challenge

A federal court on Friday unsealed documents detailing some of the evidence special counsel Jack Smith is relying on in his prosecution of former President Donald Trump over his handling of the 2020 election.

Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia published a nearly 1,900-page appendix — though most of the pages are sealed, and the parts that aren’t redacted are already in the public debate, such as press releases, social media posts and documents from the House’s investigation of the events of Jan. 6, 2021. 

Some of the documents released focus on Mr. Trump’s behavior on Jan. 6, while others address how those around him tried to help him pursue his claims that the 2020 vote was fraudulent.

Mr. Smith has charged Mr. Trump with trying to subvert the election results, though he’s now attempting to tailor those claims to a Supreme Court ruling this year that found presidents have wide-ranging immunity for official acts.

Among the documents that were able to be accessed in Friday’s filings were the FBI’s transcription of the C-SPAN telecast of Mr. Trump’s speech to supporters at the Ellipse on Jan. 6 and a federal watchdog’s findings about Peter Navarro, a Trump White House aide accused of crossing the line into politicking on government time.

The court filing redacted Mr. Navarro’s name, even though the complete watchdog report is public and available online with his name appearing repeatedly.

Another document in Friday’s court filing is the transcript of Mr. Trump’s Jan. 2, 2021, phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, whom Mr. Trump was hoping to convince that the election was rigged.

Mr. Trump’s team has fought the disclosure of evidence and material before the Nov. 5 election.

He has called Mr. Smith’s efforts election interference. 

Last week, the former president’s legal team filed a two-page document with the court asking the judge to halt Mr. Smith from filing any more “evidence” against the GOP nominee, saying it interferes with the election and conflicts with Justice Department policy.

Mr. Trump’s attorneys told Judge Chutkan, an Obama appointee, that no more information should be disclosed publicly after the government’s massive disclosure this month.

She rejected that plea, green-lighting Mr. Smith’s recent disclosure.

It comes after Mr. Smith last month filed with the court a massive document detailing evidence he plans to use against Mr. Trump.

The special counsel argued that Mr. Trump was warned by campaign staff that the 2020 election would be close and that mail-in ballots would likely be tabulated after Election Day — and that those would mostly favor his opponent, Joseph R. Biden.

“Privately, the defendant told advisers … that in such a scenario, he would simply declare victory before all the ballots were counted and any winner was projected. Publicly, the defendant began to plant the seeds for that false declaration,” the September disclosure read.