Jack Smith says Trump responsible for actions of Jan. 6 mob in new court filing

Special counsel Jack Smith on Wednesday accused former President Donald Trump of being responsible for the actions of the mob of his supporters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 2021.

The prosecutor said Trump showed his criminal colors by openly bullying ex-Vice President Mike Pence and urging his extremist followers to physically prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 vote.

“(Trump) bears …. legal responsibility for the events on January 6,” Smith said in the filing. “The superseding indictment plainly alleges that the defendant willfully caused his supporters to obstruct and attempt to obstruct the proceeding.”

In a new filing to U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, Smith’s team laid out its case that Trump should face obstruction charges because he took concrete actions to encourage his followers to mount the insurrection.

“(Trump) summon(ed) them to Washington, D.C., and then direct(ed) them to march to the Capitol to pressure the Vice President and legislators to reject the legitimate certificates” of electors from states Biden won, the prosecutors said.

The indictment says Trump derisively said, “so what?” when he was told Pence had to be rushed to a secure location shortly after Trump attacked his veep on Twitter.

Trump’s defense team had countered the fresh indictment does not directly tie Trump to the violence at the Capitol and therefore he cannot be held criminally accountable for the actions of the rioters.

The two sides are trading legal haymakers in the case after the conservative-dominated Supreme Court granted significant immunity to Trump for crimes committed while in office if they involve official acts.

But the justices also ruled former presidents can be tried for private crimes, like trying to improperly steal their reelection.

With a trial on hold for now, Chutkan must now decide in coming months whether Smith’s new indictment passes muster with the Supreme Court’s ruling.

If Trump wins the White House in November, he is expected to order prosecutors to scrap the federal case. If he loses, a trial could take place sometime in 2025.

Trump is also awaiting sentencing the week of Thanksgiving in his conviction on 34 felony counts in the Manhattan hush money case.

He also faces state racketeering charges in Georgia tied to the plot to overturn the election, although the case is on hold indefinitely.

A Trump-appointed federal judge used a legal technicality to dismiss the federal case accusing Trump of taking hundreds of classified documents with him when he left the White House. Smith’s team is appealing to a higher court.

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