Trump Criticizes Special Counsel, Accuses DOJ of Interfering with Election
Former President Donald Trump has launched a scathing attack on special counsel Jack Smith after a federal judge in Washington, D.C. unsealed a 165-page court filing in the ongoing case accusing Trump of attempting to overturn the 2020 election results. The release of this document comes just over a month before the 2024 election, a crucial moment when voters will decide whether Trump will return to the White House.
The court filing, made public by special counsel Jack Smith on Wednesday, focuses primarily on Trump’s assertion that he is immune from prosecution due to the “absolute” immunity granted to presidents for actions taken while in office. Smith’s filing argues that Trump’s post-election actions were not part of his official duties but rather private efforts aimed at securing his re-election, making them ineligible for immunity protection.
“The defendant [Trump] asserts that he is immune from prosecution for his criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election because, he claims, it entailed official conduct,” the filing reads. “Not so. Although the defendant was the incumbent President during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally a private one.”
Smith emphasized that Trump’s attempts to overturn the election results were not tied to his presidential role, but were personal actions designed to keep him in power. The special counsel further alleged that Trump’s actions—particularly those involving pressure on state officials and the promotion of baseless claims of voter fraud—were carried out as a candidate, not as the president.
In response to the unsealing of the document, Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to decry the filing as politically motivated. “FOR 60 DAYS PRIOR TO AN ELECTION, THE DEPARTMENT OF INJUSTICE IS SUPPOSED TO DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING THAT WOULD TAINT OR INTERFERE WITH A CASE. THEY DISOBEYED THEIR OWN RULE IN FAVOR OF COMPLETE AND TOTAL ELECTION INTERFERENCE,” Trump posted. “I DID NOTHING WRONG, THEY DID! THE CASE IS A SCAM, JUST LIKE ALL OF THE OTHERS, INCLUDING THE DOCUMENTS CASE, WHICH WAS DISMISSED!”
Trump’s public remarks didn’t stop there. Appearing on NewsNation’s CUOMO, he referred to Smith as “a deranged person” and accused him of working under the orders of Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden. Trump argued that the timing of the document’s release was a clear effort to harm him and the Republican Party ahead of the 2024 election.
“They should have never allowed the information to come before the public, but they did that because they want to hurt you before the election,” Trump stated. He remained confident, however, adding that “the public doesn’t buy it.”
The 165-page document revisits many details already known to the public regarding Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 election results. It highlights several incidents where Trump allegedly pressured state officials and even Vice President Mike Pence to overturn or halt the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.
A key argument made by the special counsel’s team is that Trump’s conduct—including his now-infamous phone calls to officials in Georgia and Arizona—was part of his personal campaign to remain in office. Smith argued that these actions were not in the capacity of the president but were instead tied to Trump’s role as a candidate focused on securing votes in key battleground states.
One particularly important incident outlined in the document was Trump’s meeting with Pence on January 4, 2021, two days before the Capitol riot. During this meeting, Trump reportedly excluded his official White House legal counsel from the discussion. Prosecutors used this exclusion as evidence that Trump’s actions were personal and separate from his presidential duties, thus ineligible for immunity protection.
The special counsel also cited the January 2, 2021 phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, where Trump famously asked to “find” 11,780 votes—just enough to overturn Biden’s win in Georgia. Prosecutors argued that this phone call, along with other actions in swing states, was part of a broader plan by Trump to undermine the legitimacy of the election results.
Throughout the filing, Smith’s team accused Trump and his associates of knowingly promoting false claims of widespread election fraud. According to the document, Trump was repeatedly informed that his claims had no basis in fact, yet he continued to push forward with efforts to challenge the results, ultimately contributing to the events of January 6, 2021.
Trump’s legal team had previously tried to prevent the unsealing of documents like this one, arguing that such releases could negatively impact Trump’s campaign and the 2024 election. However, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected these arguments, ruling that political consequences do not affect the court’s schedule. While certain names and details remain redacted, Chutkan ordered the unsealing of most of the filing.
This legal battle is just one of many that Trump faces. In addition to the federal case related to the 2020 election, he is also dealing with a 10-count indictment in Georgia concerning alleged election interference and a separate 40-count indictment connected to his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House.
Despite the numerous legal challenges, Trump continues to maintain his innocence, pleading not guilty to all charges and framing the lawsuits as part of a broader political plot to derail his chances of re-election. With the 2024 election looming, Trump remains firm in his argument that these legal troubles are part of a deliberate effort to prevent his political comeback.