Special Counsel Jack Smith has revealed new allegations of former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. In a 165-page court filing on Wednesday, Smith detailed what he described as Trump's "increasingly desperate" attempts to retain power despite privately describing some of the claims of election fraud as "crazy."
The filing alleges that Trump intentionally misled the public, state election officials, and his own vice president about the election results. "When the defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes to try to stay in office," the filing stated. "With private co-conspirators, the defendant launched a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results in seven states that he had lost."
According to the filing, Trump's efforts to overturn the election through lawsuits and fraudulent electors failed to change the outcome. As a result, prosecutors allege that the former president incited violence, describing Trump as directly responsible for "the tinderbox that he purposely ignited on January 6."
The filing also outlines multiple instances where Trump allegedly heard from advisers who disproved his allegations yet continued to spread his claims of outcome-determinative voter fraud. Trump allegedly told members of his family following the 2020 election, "It doesn't matter if you won or lost the election. You still have to fight like hell."
Last year, Trump pleaded not guilty to federal charges of undertaking a "criminal scheme" to overturn the results of the 2020 election in order to remain in power. The recent filing comes as U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is set to begin considering whether any of the allegations included in the government's case are protected by presidential immunity.