Enough to Convict – Former special counsel Jack Smith says he has the evidence to convict former President Donald J. Trump for interference in the 2020 election results, if not for Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, according to his 137-page final report released by the Department of Justice early Tuesday.
Trump “engaged in an unprecedented criminal effort to overturn the legitimate results of the election in order to retain power,” Smith says in his report's conclusion.
Smith resigned as special counsel before Trump could fire him after next Monday’s presidential inauguration. But Smith and his team of investigators now face investigation themselves by the Republican-majority 119th Congress in the coming months, likely to be led by the incoming president’s close allys.
“While we were not able to bring the cases we charged to trial, I believe the fact that our team stood up for the rule of law matters,” Smith writes in the introduction. “I believe the example our team set for others to fight for justice without regard for the personal cost matters. The facts, as we uncovered them in our investigation and as set forth in my Report, matter. Experienced prosecutors know that you cannot control outcomes, you can only do your job the right way for the right reasons. I conclude our work confident that we have done so, and that we have met fully our obligations to the Department and to our country.”
But not the other report … Judge Aileen Cannon – yes, the federal district judge in Florida appointed by Trump 45 – issued the five-page order Monday allowing the Justice Department to release the elections interference report but not the report from Smith’s investigation of Trump’s alleged refusal to return classified documents after he left office – the case she oversaw -- according to The New York Times.
That investigation led to the FBI’s seizure of classified government documents at Mar-a-Lago on August 8, 2022.
Cannon ordered prosecutors and Trump defense attorneys to appear before her on Friday to argue whether Smith’s report on the classified documents case should be released to Congress.
Reaction ... Insert standard Trump insults of Smith and his investigators here.
--Todd Lassa
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MONDAY 1/13/25
This Week – The House and Senate are in session Monday through Thursday, and the Senate only is in session Friday. Monday is the fourth anniversary of President-elect Trump’s second impeachment, for incitement of the January 6th attack on Capitol Hill. Trump was later acquitted by the Senate.
Welcome – Readers of Columbia Spy.
Confirmation Week I – Pete Hegseth for Defense secretary, Pam Bondi for US attorney general and Marco Rubio for secretary of state are key Senate confirmation hearings beginning Tuesday, Jessica Taylor of the Cook Political Report told NPR’s Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition.
As the most controversial Trump nominee now that former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has withdrawn his nomination to be AG, former Fox News host Hegseth will face the toughest questioning beginning Tuesday.
Senate committees also will question Interior Department secretary nominee Doug Burgum and Veterans Affairs nominee Doug Collins on Tuesday.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to take Wednesday and Thursday for its hearing on Bondi’s nomination to head the Justice Department, CQ Roll Call reports. Wednesday also is the day for Rubio to appear before the Senate Foreign Relations committee. John L. Ratcliffe, nominee for CIA director will appear before the Intelligence committee. Nominee for Homeland Security secretary, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) and nominee for Office of Management and Budget chief Russell Vought will appear before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee on Wednesday.
A confirmation hearing for former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) to be director of national intelligence appears to be delayed for a week, but not for the reasons you might expect – Gabbard is considered an ally of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and years ago met with now-deposed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. But Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) described Gabbard’s delay as a “paperwork problem.”
“She now has a top-level security clearance,” Barrasso told CBS News’ Face the Nation Sunday. “She is the right person to keep America secure and safe.”
Others, this week … Chris Wright for Energy secretary, Scott Turner for Housing and Urban Development secretary, Sean Duffy for Transportation secretary, Scott Bessent for Treasury secretary and Lee Zeldin for Environmental Protection Agency director are also scheduled for committee hearings this week.
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Are You Ready for Some Trump Tariffs? – After decades of catching up with Western Europe, Japan and the United States with its odd mixture of communist authoritarianism and state-supported capitalism, China has reached nearly $1 trillion in trade surplus for 2024, according to the nation’s General Administration of Customs. Even adjusted for inflation, China’s $990-billion trade surplus last year “far exceeded” any in the world in the last century, according to The New York Times, including the US after World War II.
Automakers in the European Union are battling stiff competition from Chinese makers of affordable electric vehicles, while in the US, President-elect Trump has threatened a tariff on all Chinese goods of up to 60%.
--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa