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President-elect Donald Trump went on a rant targeting former special counsel Jack Smith, whom he referred to as "lamebrain" and "deranged" and claimed would have convicted him for election interference had he not won the 2024 presidential election on his Truth Social account early Tuesday (January 14) morning.
Trump posted at 1:41 a.m. ET., shortly after the 174-page report on Smith's findings about the 2020 presidential election were delivered to Congress by the Justice Department just after midnight, which came after Trump's legal team's last-minute effort to block its release was rejected by a South Florida U.S. District Court late Monday (January 13).
"Deranged Jack Smith was unable to successfully prosecute the Political Opponent of his 'boss,' Crooked Joe Biden, so he ends up writing yet another 'Report' based on information that the Unselect Committee of Political Hacks and Thugs ILLEGALLY DESTROYED AND DELETED, because it showed how totally innocent I was, and how completely guilty Nancy Pelosi, and others, were. Jack is a lamebrain prosecutor who was unable to get his case tried before the Election, which I won in a landslide. THE VOTERS HAVE SPOKEN!!!" Trump wrote.
The Justice Department report details and defends Smith's investigative process to bring a four-count indictment on Trump in relation to accusations of plotting to obstruct the collection and certification of votes in the 2020 presidential election following his loss to eventual President Joe Biden. Smith, who was appointed to the case by Attorney General Merrick Garland shortly after Trump announced his 2024 election campaign, claimed that the former president undertook an "unprecedented criminal effort" in order to retain the presidency.
“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,” Smith wrote in the conclusion of the report.
Smith resigned from the Justice Department in a court filing on Saturday (January 11), days ahead of Trump's inauguration.