Special counsel releases trove of redacted documents in 2020 election subversion case against Trump

Special counsel Jack Smith on Friday released a massive trove of redacted documents in his 2020 election subversion criminal case against former President Donald Trump.

Special counsel Jack Smith on Friday released a massive trove of redacted documents in his 2020 election subversion criminal case against former President Donald Trump. The redacted appendices filed on the public docket in the case are related to Smith’s expansive filing from earlier this month that laid out his fullest picture yet of the case against Trump and Smith’s belief that his actions around the 2020 election should not be shielded by presidential immunity. The files are expected to include an array of materials, including grand jury transcripts and notes from FBI interviews conducted during the yearslong investigation. The documents were released a day after Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected a bid by Trump to pause the release. Trump argued that posting the documents now could be seen as election inference and had asked them to remain under seal until after Election Day. “If the court withheld information that the public otherwise had a right to access solely because of the potential political consequences of releasing it, that withholding could itself constitute – or appear to be – election interference,” Chutkan wrote in a decision late Thursday. Prosecutors have charged Trump with four crimes stemming from his actions following his 2020 election loss, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction. Trump has pleaded not guilty.