Special Counsel Jack Smith argued in a filing on Wednesday that former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election were carried out in his private capacity as a candidate, rather than in his official capacity as president. This argument stems from a Supreme Court decision in July that granted Trump immunity for official actions but left room for prosecutors to pursue him for unofficial actions.
The filing stated that Trump utilized private actors and his campaign infrastructure extensively in his attempt to overturn the election results, operating primarily as a candidate for office. According to prosecutors, Trump was advised by his team that the election results might not be finalized on Election Day and that he could appear to be leading on Election Night only to fall behind once all votes were counted.
Despite this advice, Trump reportedly planned to declare victory before all ballots were tallied. One unnamed political adviser described the strategy as Trump declaring victory without necessarily being the actual winner. The adviser also acknowledged the Democratic lean of mail-in ballots as a disadvantage but indicated that Trump intended to capitalize on this situation as part of the strategy.
