Special counsel Jack Smith explained in his final report that he didn’t indict President-elect Donald Trump on insurrection charges because he ultimately could not prove Jan. 6 was more than a riot.
In the final report, Smith wrote that his office decided that bringing insurrection charges would create “unwarranted litigation risk,” noting the statue offers “no guidance on what proof would be required to establish an insurrection, or to distinguish an insurrection from a riot.”
“[T]he [special counsel’s office] did not develop direct evidence-such as an explicit admission or communication with co-conspirators-of Mr. Trump’s subjective intent to cause the full scope of the violence that occurred on January 6,” Smith wrote, noting his office did find there were “reasonable arguments” to be made that Trump incited violence.
New Jack Smith report reveals why Smith didn’t charge Donald Trump with insurrection: Because January 6 was not an insurrection. Or at least Smith was not confident he could convince even a deep-blue DC jury that it was. And whatever it was, he could not prove Trump incited it.…
— Byron York (@ByronYork) January 14, 2025
Smith opted not to charge Trump even after the Colorado Supreme Court held that he engaged in insurrection in an effort to remove him from the state’s ballot, a decision later reversed by the Supreme Court, and after he faced impeachment for allegedly inciting an insurrection.
Former Republican Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney responded to Smith’s report on X Tuesday, writing that the Department of Justice (DOJ) reached “the same essential conclusions as the Select Committee.” However, the final Jan. 6 committee report suggests that Trump violated the Insurrection Act.
Smith’s report notes that there “does not appear to have ever been a prosecution under the statute for inciting, assisting, or giving aid or comfort to rebellion or insurrection.”
“The few relevant cases that exist appear to be based on a defendant directly engaging in rebellion or insurrection, but the Office’s proof did not include evidence that Mr. Trump directly engaged in insurrection himself,” the report states.
Smith did argue in his report that Trump would have been convicted in the 2020 election case if he had not won the 2024 election. He called any suggestion that the Biden administration influenced his decision to bring charges “laughable.”
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