news

just about a month before the u.s. presidential election, jack smith, the special prosecutor of the u.s. department of justice, released a 165-page document on october 2, local time.

smith's team pointed out in the document that although trump was the current president during the 2020 election, his attempt to overturn the election results was a "private act" and therefore should not enjoy the presidential immunity granted by the u.s. supreme court. the declassified documents wrote that trump cooperated with groups to use fraud and forgery to interfere with government elections, and acted as a presidential candidate after losing the election, rather than as a "sitting president."

▲trump

the special prosecution team's move was in response to the u.s. supreme court's ruling on july 1 this year. according to cctv news, the u.s. supreme court ruled at the time that former president trump enjoyed a certain degree of immunity from criminal prosecution in federal cases involving alleged "interference in the 2020 election" and instructed the lower courts to reconsider the case and determine what conduct it is an "official act" that cannot be prosecuted.

the special prosecution team is trying to prove to the federal supreme court that trump's actions were motivated by his personal desire to retain power rather than the president's performance of his official duties. the team filed court documents to this effect, providing new details and representations.

——1——

trying to stay in office illegally?

trump calls out to allies: 'be bold'

documents released by smith's team pointed out that when trump realized that he would lose the 2020 election, he relied on illegal means to try to remain in power. in the weeks leading up to the capitol hill riot, trump and his allies put pressure on pence, trying to persuade him to use his role as senate chairman to deny biden's official electoral college results and prevent the certification of the vote.

the document states that on december 25, 2020, after trump called pence to wish him a merry christmas, he tried to pressure pence to refuse to fulfill his obligation to certify votes, and pence told him: "you know, i don't think i have the authority. change the outcome of the election." prosecutors also obtained five pages of notes showing trump and his lawyer john eastman urging pence to ignore the results of the vote.

▲former vice president of the united states pence, according to visual china

at one meeting, trump said: "when there is fraud, the rules change," telling pence to "be bold." "the whole thing is up to (you)" and "(you) have the right to do whatever you want. thing," and said he won elections in various states by hundreds of thousands of votes. "at the end of the meeting, pence firmly and clearly told trump 'i don't think this argument will work,'" the document said.

trump knew full well that claims his election was stolen were false, the documents read. trump continued to spread the rumors despite being clearly told by campaign advisers that the accusations were untenable. he had no reaction to his advisers' warnings, saying only: "the details don't matter."

——2——

deliberately causing riots?

trump campaign: 'let them riot'

the documents revealed that in the weeks after the election, trump's team tried to "create disturbances" at polling stations where votes were still being counted. the document states that on november 4, 2020, at a voting center in detroit, when it became apparent that more and more votes were being cast for biden, a member of the trump campaign tried to cause "chaos."

when a colleague at the voting center raised the point, the trump campaign employee said that even if the vote did go to biden, "find a reason why it wasn't" for biden, this gives you the "option to file a lawsuit." poll center colleagues hinted that riots would ensue, but campaign employees responded: "let them riot, just do it!!"

documents show that trump asked then-republican national committee chairwoman ronna mcdaniel to promote a private report that claimed to have found flaws in voting machines used in a michigan county. mcdaniel declined, telling trump she had discussed it with michigan house speaker lee chatfield, who was blunt in his assessment: "crazy!"

the document also records the situation when the "capitol hill riot" incident occurred on january 6, 2021. at that time, trump was sitting alone in the white house restaurant watching the progress of the incident on tv. knowing that congress was being stormed, trump posted on social media that "pence lacks courage." when an aide told trump that pence had been evacuated to a safe location, trump simply responded: "so what?"

▲on january 6, 2021, supporters of then-president trump stormed the capitol, causing the joint meeting of the house and senate to certify biden as president-elect to be interrupted. xinhua news agency

——3——

trump angrily criticized:

'democrats used the justice department against me'

on the day the documents were disclosed, trump lashed out on his social media platforms. he wrote that the justice department launched its latest "assassination" today. "democrats are using the department of justice against me because they know i will win and they are desperate to support their losing candidate harris."

trump said the release of these documents "is another clear attempt by the harris-biden regime to undermine and weaponize american democracy and interfere in the 2024 presidential election."

on the same day, trump said at a private fundraiser that the department of justice special prosecutor jack smith was a "mentally disturbed person" and that the documents he submitted were "weapons of the government released 30 days before the election." "my poll numbers have gone up, not down. this is pure election interference," he said.

red star news reporter deng shuyi comprehensive cctv news (editor in charge: zhang wenjun), etc.

editor guo zhuang editor wei kongming