Jack Smith's Donald Trump Report: Read Full Document

A report into Donald Trump's role in the events of January 6, 2021, has been released by the Justice Department.

Special Counsel Jack Smith has been investigating allegations that Trump criminally tried to overturn the 2020 election results when he lost the presidency to Joe Biden.

Newsweek has reached out to Trump's transition team for comment via email.

Why It Matters

Trump had been seeking to block the release of Smith's investigative report, with his lawyers arguing it would illegally interfere with his presidential transition.

The DOJ, on the other hand, has been fighting to get the report made public before Trump takes office, with most pundits believing Trump would not allow the release of the report once he's in the White House.

What To Know

In his report, which was submitted to Congress early Tuesday, Smith wrote that Trump would have been convicted had he not been elected.

Smith said his office began its prosecution of Trump because it had enough evidence against him, saying that "[b]ut for Mr. Trump's election and imminent return to the Presidency, the Office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial."

He added that he believed Trump criminally attempted to subvert the will of the people and overturn the election results.

"As set forth in the original and superseding indictments, when it became clear that Mr. Trump had lost the election and that lawful means of challenging the election results had failed, he resorted to a series of criminal efforts to retain power," the report states.

The report also includes allegations that Trump sought to put "pressure on the Vice President" to delay the vote certification on January 6, 2021, and that he supported the organization of a false slate of electors.

The President-elect had faced accusations of inciting the January 6 Capitol riots, where his supporters stormed the building following his repeated, unproven claims that the election was "stolen" through voter fraud.

But Smith dropped the case after Trump won the election in November in line with a longstanding DOJ policy not to prosecute a sitting president.

Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing in the election and pleaded not guilty to all federal charges, asserting that the accusations are politically motivated.

Following the release of the report, Trump again reiterated his innocence.

"Deranged Jack Smith was unable to successfully prosecute the Political Opponent of his 'boss,' Crooked Joe Biden, so he ends up writing yet another 'Report' based on information that the Unselect Committee of Political Hacks and Thugs ILLEGALLY DESTROYED AND DELETED, because it showed how totally innocent I was, and how completely guilty Nancy Pelosi, and others, were. Jack is a lamebrain prosecutor who was unable to get his case tried before the Election, which I won in a landslide. THE VOTERS HAVE SPOKEN!!!" he wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Meanwhile, in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland accompanying the report, Smith defended his decision to file charges against the President-elect, dismissing Trump's claims that his actions were influenced by senior officials in the Justice Department.

"To all who know me well, the claim from Mr. Trump that my decisions as a prosecutor were influenced or directed by the Biden administration or other political actors is, in a word, laughable," Smith wrote, adding later in the report his office had "no interest in affecting the presidential election."

In the report, he added that he stands by his decision to prosecute Trump. The final decision to prosecute the President-elect was his alone, he said. "It is a decision I stand behind fully," Smith wrote. "To have done otherwise on the facts developed during our work would have been to shirk my duties as a prosecutor and a public servant."

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon had barred the DOJ from releasing a final investigative report or any drafts after requests by the President-elect and his allies.

However, on Monday she allowed Garland to release the first volume of former Smith's report on his investigation in the 2020 election.

The second part of the report, related to allegations that Trump unlawfully held onto classified documents after the end of his first term in 2021 and obstructed the Justice Department's investigation, was not released.

Read the document in full:

What Happens Next

Trump's inauguration is set for January 20, after which he will begin his second term as president.