Jack Smith Tells Lawmakers Donald Trump Brought Charges On Himself
By: HuffPost
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
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WASHINGTON — Former special counsel Jack Smith told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that President Donald Trump is responsible for his criminal indictments relating to the Jan. 6 insurrection and his possession of classified documents.
Republicans hauled Smith in for a closed-door deposition as part of their yearslong effort to downplay the president's actions and portray the cases against him as a purely political witch hunt.
"The decision to bring charges against President Trump was mine, but the basis for those charges rests entirely with President Trump and his actions, as alleged in the indictments returned by grand juries in two different districts," Smith told lawmakers, according to excerpts of his opening remarks obtained by HuffPost.
Smith led a team that won grand jury indictments against Trump for trying to overthrow the 2020 election result, for hoarding classified documents after leaving the White House and for obstructing justice in an attempt to hide the material from investigators. He had offered to testify in public, but House Republicans opted for private testimony.
"I hate that the Republicans did not want to make sure that this was a public hearing, but it looks like it's going to be a good one," Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) told HuffPost during an early break in the deposition.
"Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and to prevent the lawful transfer of power," Smith said. "Our investigation also developed powerful evidence that showed President Trump willfully retained highly classified documents after he left office in January 2021, storing them at his social club, including in a bathroom and a ballroom where events and gatherings took place."
Smith also explained why he obtained phone records from several Republican Senate offices — an aspect of his investigation that so infuriated Senate Republicans they wrote a new law allowing the aggrieved senators to collect millions of dollars in damages from the government. Smith pointed out Trump had summoned a violent mob to the Capitol and contacted lawmakers during the attack.
"Exploiting that violence, President Trump and his associates tried to call members of Congress in furtherance of their criminal scheme, urging them to further delay certification of the 2020 election," Smith said. "I didn't choose those members; President Trump did."
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This should have been on national tv. Hopefully a great deal of it will be leaked.
Gee...
Donald Trump engaged in illegal activity.
Astonishing.
Seems to me like another stupid move, as Smith had quite a solid case on both issues as I have read and as I see it. Yes, bring up some more reasons to hate this POS potUS, as if there were not enough already.
I'm opposed to the policy that a President cannot be tried and convicted for criminal behavior. If someone is guilty of a crime, they are guilty of a crime, no matter what position they hold in society. I believe it is poor public policy to allow a criminal to escape justice for any reason.