Five takeaways from Smith’s report on Trump’s 2020 election

Donald Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat are outlined in the final report of the special counsel’s two-year investigation into him.

Much of what is contained in its 140 pages was already known thanks to a 2022 congressional investigation and previous court statements by the report’s author, Jack Smith.

But it sheds new light on some of the evidence uncovered by Smith’s team, and outlines his own thinking on some delicate legal points.

Trump, who will return to the White House next week, did not respond to the report’s release, insisting he was innocent and calling Smith “crazy.”

Here are five takeaways from the report.

The report refers to riots at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the building to try to disrupt the certification of Biden’s victory after hearing Trump, the defeated candidate, speak on the Ellipse in Washington.

“Mr. Trump’s words inspired his supporters to commit acts of physical violence,” the report said.

It goes on to note, “While Mr. Trump also at one point told his supporters to ‘peacefully and patriotically make (their) voices heard,’ he used the word ‘fight’ more than ten times in his speech.”

Trump has promised to pardon many convicted of crimes related to the riots, which he sought to recast as a “day of love,” upon his return to office.

His defenders dismissed the idea that he was deliberately inciting the crowd, citing the “peaceful” quote highlighted by Smith above.

The report examines the basis on which Trump was prosecuted and makes clear that Smith’s team considered charging the then-president with “incitement to sedition.”

The document says Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021 speech at the Ellipse could have met the Supreme Court’s definition of incitement, especially when viewed alongside his “long and deceptive narrative of voter fraud.”

The report suggests that the day’s violence was “predictable” for Trump, for one, and that he sought to “exploit” the events to delay Biden’s certification.

But Trump was ultimately not charged with incitement because Smith’s team found no “direct evidence” of his intent to cause “full-scale violence” during the Capitol riot, making the verdict uncertain.

The document goes on to note that “other powerful charges were also available.”

Several people charged and convicted of involvement in the attack on the Capitol pointed to Trump’s influence as a motivating factor, the report said.

It quoted some of the rioters, including Alex Harkrider, who sought to be released from prison before the trial, claiming that, “like thousands of others,” he was simply “responding to requests” from Trump.

Another man, David Mehaffey, in seeking a commutation of the sentence, referred to Trump’s speech and added: “I trusted the president and it was a big mistake.”

What Smith fails to acknowledge in his report is that it was in the legal interest of these men to shift responsibility away from themselves.

In repeated conversations day after day, Trump asked his vice president to use his position as secretary of state as president of the Senate to change the results of the election without confirming the results, Smith’s report said.

Pence refused, and Trump once told him that “hundreds of thousands” of people would “hate him inside” if he didn’t back down.

A public campaign of pressure on his deputy continued. In his speech, Trump said he hoped Pence would, but if he didn’t, “he wouldn’t like him as much.”

Just before he left the White House to give a speech at the Ellipse before the attack on the Capitol, Trump called Pence one last time, Smith says. When the vice president told him on the call that he didn’t have the authority to carry out Trump’s wishes, Trump ordered staff to reinsert into his speech some language he had written earlier aimed at Pence.

Moments after the speech, Trump supporters roamed the halls of the Capitol chanting “hang Mike Pence” and sought him in his offices.

Smith describes the experience of law enforcement on duty when a mob stormed the Capitol building, during which at least 140 officers were attacked.

It notes that 123 defendants were subsequently charged with using a deadly weapon or causing grievous bodily harm to law enforcement.

“This violence has taken a long-lasting toll,” the report said, noting that 223 officers suffered “invisible injuries,” including depression and other forms of psychological trauma.

One footnote provides a further description of the officers’ feelings of “survivor’s guilt”, “cantilever shock” and “an inability to move on from that day”.