Eric Brody
Two-time former candidate for Colorado Legislative District 39 in Douglas County
Early today (1/14/25), the Department of Justice released Volume One of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on the investigations he undertook in connection with alleged criminal conduct on the part of the 45th president of the United States, during and following his term of office. Volume One concerns “Efforts To Interfere with the Lawful Transfer of Power Following the 2020 Presidential Election or the Certification of the Electoral College Vote Held on January 6, 2021.” In August 2023, a grand jury indictedthe 45th president and in August 2024 handed up a superseding indictment in connection with this crime.
That the 45th president attempted a coup – one that culminated in an assault on the Capitol that he had mobilized followers to commit on January 6, 2021 – has been abundantly clear to people of decency and sense for four years. His culpability for the January 6 attack itself was broadly accepted on a bipartisan basis on that infamous date and for weeks afterward.
In a speech he delivered on February 13, 2021, immediately following the conclusion of the second impeachment trial, then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell fiercely denounced the 45th president. Read the Congressional Research Service’s summary of the impeachment resolution. Listen to and/or read McConnel’s speech. Peruse the evidence that the House impeachment managers brought forward:
- Senate Trial Proceedings – S. Doc. 117-2 – Proceedings of the United States Senate in the Impeachment Trial of Donald John Trump, Part I, Part II, Part III;
- The Evidentiary Record – House Document 117-9 – Impeachment of President Donald John Trump, Volume I, Volume II, Volume III, Volume IV
In 2022, the January 6 Committee collected further damning evidence, which it presented in the course of televised hearings featuring as witnesses key members of the 45th president’s administration. In December 2022 and January 2023, the committee published the evidence it had collected:
- Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol
- Select January 6th Committee Final Report and Supporting Materials Collection
- Release of Select Committee Materials – January 2, 2023
One might profitably consume this material, including the compelling video footage and hearing testimony. One might also skip all that has come before and go right to the report that came out today.
Below I have shared the section of the Table of Contents that indicates the location of the evidence, with hyperlinks directly to the relevant pages. Further below is the brief (a mere 243 words) conclusion of the report, the last sentence of which I repeat here:
“Indeed, but for Mr. Trump’s election and imminent return to the Presidency, the Office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.”
From 243 word conclusion
The 45th president of the United States – six days away from inauguration as the 47th president of the United States – has been a malevolent, destructive foe of our Constitutional republic. That he has managed to escape accountability and return to office is a great shame for our nation and a tragedy not only for the United States but for the entire world.
Quoting from the Conclusion of the Report:
VI. CONCLUSION
From the Conclusion of the Report
“On remand from the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump, the district court set a litigation schedule whereby the parties would submit briefs regarding whether any material in the superseding indictment was subject to presidential immunity. ECF No. 233. The parties were in the middle of that process when the results of the presidential election made clear that Mr. Trump would be inaugurated as President of the United States on January 20, 2025. As described above, it has long been the Department’s interpretation that the Constitution forbids the federal indictment and prosecution of a sitting President, but the election results raised for the first time the question of the lawful course when a private citizen who has already been indicted is then elected President. The Department determined that the case must be dismissed without prejudice before Mr. Trump takes office, and the Office therefore moved to dismiss the indictment on November 25, 2024. See ECF No. 281. The district court granted the motion the same day. ECF No. 283.”
“The Department’s view that the Constitution prohibits the continued indictment and prosecution of a President is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Office stands fully behind. Indeed, but for Mr. Trump’s election and imminent return to the Presidency, the Office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.”