Smith's Team Wants Jury to See Trump's Tweets About Other Elections

They say he had a 'common plan of falsely blaming fraud for election results he does not like'
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 5, 2023 4:22 PM CST
Smith's Team Wants Jury to See Trump's Tweets About Other Elections
Trump supporters at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.   (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

Special Counsel Jack Smith's team wants jurors in Donald Trump's 2020 election obstruction case to hear the former president's remarks about elections in previous years, including 2012, when he falsely claimed that election machines were switching votes from Mitt Romney to Barack Obama, and 2016, when, before his narrow victory, he alleged that there was widespread fraud, Politico reports. In a filing submitted Tuesday, prosecutors said the remarks "demonstrate the defendant's common plan of falsely blaming fraud for election results he does not like, as well as his motive, intent, and plan to obstruct the certification of the 2020 election results and illegitimately retain power."

Smith's team said Trump's tweets and other public remarks show a "consistent refusal to commit to a peaceful transition of power," making them "admissible evidence of his plan to undermine the integrity of the presidential transition process," reports Axios. They said his refusal to commit to accepting the results of the 2016 election are evidence of "his plan to remain in power at any cost—even in the face of potential violence." Other evidence Smith's team is seeking to submit includes more recent statements expressing support for Capitol rioters, the Hill reports. The requests need to be approved by Judge Tanya Chutkan.

Trump was indicted in the federal case in August. In Tuesday's filing, Smith's team went further than in the indictment to link Trump to the Capitol attack, accusing him of sending rioters to the building, the Washington Post reports. "Evidence of the defendant's post-conspiracy embrace of particularly violent and notorious rioters is admissible to establish the defendant's motive and intent on January 6—that he sent supporters, including groups like the Proud Boys, whom he knew were angry, and whom he now calls 'patriots,' to the Capitol to achieve the criminal objective of obstructing the congressional certification," the filing states. (More election interference indictment stories.)

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