Former President Donald Trump allegedly acted as a private candidate, not as president, in his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, according to special counsel Jack Smith’s team. The Supreme Court ruled that Trump had immunity for some actions taken as president, but prosecutors could still pursue charges for his private actions. A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment against Trump in August, adjusting the case to comply with the Supreme Court’s order.
Smith’s team claimed that Trump engaged in criminal activities to stay in office after losing the election, launching plans to overturn election results in seven states he lost. They argued that Trump’s alleged lies about the election were known to be false and that he worked with a team of private co-conspirators to disrupt the government’s function of collecting and counting votes.
Trump reportedly planned to declare victory before all ballots were counted and began laying the groundwork for claims of fraud to his supporters. Smith’s team stated that Trump was aware that mail-in ballots could favor Joe Biden and still chose to spread misinformation about the election results.
This is an ongoing story, and updates are expected.
Photo credit
www.nbcnews.com
