Special Counsel Jack Smith‘s newly unsealed motion following his investigation into former President Donald Trump‘s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election repeatedly cites Vice President Mike Pence and his 2022 book as evidence.
In a 165-page court filing made public on Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, Smith makes the case that Trump “resorted to crimes to try to stay in office” following the 2020 election, and that his efforts to overturn the results are not protected by presidentially immunity because “the defendant was acting in his capacity as a candidate for reelection, not in his capacity as President.”
The filing comes after a July 1 U.S. Supreme Court decision that altered the framework of the case, ruling that presidents have broad immunity for official acts.
Trump was indicted on four counts of allegedly working to overturn the 2020 election results in the run-up to the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. He is accused of conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights in connection with an alleged pressure campaign on state officials to reverse the 2020 election results.
He has denied all charges and repeatedly said he is the victim of a political witch hunt. Trump has accused Smith of attempting to interfere in the 2024 presidential election by prosecuting him. The election, in which Trump is the Republican nominee, is 34 days away.
In the newly public motion, Smith writes that in the days following the 2020 election, Pence “told the defendant that he had seen no evidence of outcome-determinative fraud in the election.” Pence broke with Trump over 2020 election fraud narratives, notably by certifying the results of the 2020 election against the president’s wishes.
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Smith cites Pence’s 2022 autobiography, So Help Me God, as evidence several times, along with tweets, videos, interviews, speeches and other communications. The motion includes anecdotes from Pence’s book in which he urged then-President Trump to accept the confirmed results that Joe Biden won, and to “take a bow” and run again in the next election. Trump responded: “I don’t know, 2024 is so far off.”
Smith also referenced Arizona and Georgia, states that have ongoing cases regarding fake elector schemes and election interference, writing that Pence spoke with the states’ governors, who didn’t report back any evidence of election fraud.
The motion calls for the court to “determine that the defendant must stand trial for his private crimes as would any other citizen.”
Steven Cheung, Trump’s spokesman, told Newsweek in statement on Wednesday: “The release of the falsehood-ridden, Unconstitutional J6 brief immediately following Tim Walz‘s disastrous debate performance is another obvious attempt by the Harris-Biden regime to undermine American Democracy and interfere in this election.
“Deranged Jack Smith and Washington DC Radical Democrats are hell-bent on weaponizing the Justice Department in an attempt to cling to power. President Trump is dominating, and the Radical Democrats throughout the Deep State are freaking out. This entire case is a partisan, Unconstitutional Witch Hunt that should be dismissed entirely, together with ALL of the remaining Democrat hoaxes.”
Newsweek reached out to Pence’s press team via email for comment on Wednesday.
