After the Republican-appointed justice in the US Supreme Court ruled that presidents cannot be prosecuted for their official acts, it fell to special counsel Jack Smith to tweak one of his cases against Donald Trump. Specifically, the prosecutor and his team must tell the federal court that the indictment of the former president for alleged election-related crimes can proceed, regardless of the Supreme Court’s controversial decision.
Last week, Smith’s office submitted a court filing, not only explaining why the criminal charges remain on solid ground, but also offering new details about the merits of the case. For obvious reasons, the Republican candidate, who has denied wrongdoing, does not want this court filing to reach the public during the election season.
A federal judge unsealed it anyway.
In general, there are a handful of story angles. The first is the legal dimension, as prosecutors are taking careful steps to protect their case and explain why Trump’s post-defeat plot should not be seen as an official presidential act.
The second angle is the scope of the new revelation. Politico has a great report that recounts some of the most notable details, though NBC News’ report highlights the former president’s most memorable quotes, which help sum up his perspective after his defeat in a neat and important way.
Another piece of evidence Smith’s team plans to introduce is testimony from an unnamed assistant to the president who overheard Trump’s speech to family members on board Marine One after the 2020 election. “It doesn’t matter if you win or lose the election,” Trump said. “You still have to fight like hell.”
But another angle that needs to be taken into account is the timing of this development. The Washington Post has a good report along these lines, saying that the court filing “at least served as a belated reminder of an ugly episode, inspired by Trump, just over a month before voters decide whether to return him to the White House.”
Those reminders and new details have been few and far between since the Jan. 6 organizers wrapped up their business nearly two years ago. Trump does not appear to have paid a real political price for his four indictments, which include a financial fraud conviction in Manhattan. But many casual voters seem unfamiliar with the case, and the race looks very close. That makes the revelations the latest for Trump.
I can appreciate why this may seem difficult for well-informed news consumers to believe, but a significant portion of the population no longer remembers January 6 or the GOP nominee’s attempt to overturn the will of our own country’s voters.
I am reminded of a report from the Columbia Journalism Review, which spoke to Celinda Lake, one of the main pollsters working on the 2020 campaign of President Joe Biden, and who was surprised during a focus group session earlier this year with swing voters.
According to reports, Lake had asked how voters felt about Trump’s accusations related to January 6.
“They went, ‘What’s the court case around January 6?'” the pollster recalled. “This is a swing voter, and about half of them are not sure what we are talking about. And I said, ‘Well, you know, the insurrection and that he is the one who provoked it.’ They go, ‘Oh, right, I kind of forgot about that.'”
A few months later, a national poll from Yahoo News and YouGov found a surprising number of Americans who were unfamiliar with the criminal case against the former president.
Many voters did not know that a jury found Trump guilty of 34 crimes. They don’t know that a different jury found Trump responsible for sexual abuse. They didn’t know that a separate court had found that Trump oversaw businesses that engaged in systemic fraud.
And they don’t know that federal prosecutors are charging Trump with various crimes related to his attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election. As Election Day approaches, and early voting is held in many states, Smith’s filing offers a timely reminder.
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