U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkah released on Friday a trove of documents from special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into Donald Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 elections.
The files contain almost 1,900 pages throughout several appendices and, even though many of them cannot be viewed, they provide a look at some of the evidence Smith used to build his case.
Among them is a picture of a handwritten note anticipating Trump's willingness to seek that then-Vice President Mike Pence refuse to certify the elections, instead declaring Trump the winner. The short note only has two items, the first one reading "Requesting VP reject," an apparent reference to getting Pence onboard with the plan. Below it can be read "were the procedures followed that led to the certification," and "what is the purpose of the process."
Earlier in the appendix, a document describes the scenario Trump and his supporters envisioned to overturn the elections. The first key moment would take place when Pence, counting the votes from the electoral college vote, got to Arizona. He would then announce the presence of multiple slates of electors, seeking to defer the decision until finishing other states.
The scenario would take place with six other states, leading him to say that the amount of "electors appointed," that is, the valid votes, would be 454 out of 538. In that case, the majority would be 228 and Trump would get 232 votes to Biden's 222, leading Pence to declare Trump as the rightful winner.
"Howls, of course, from the Democrats, who now claim, contrary to Tribe's prior position, that 270 is required. So Pence says, fine. Pursuant to the 12th Amendment, no candidate has achieved the necessary majority. That sends the matter to the House, where the 'votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote...'. Republicans currently control 26 of the state delegations, the bare majority needed to win that vote. President Trump is reelected there as well," reads another part of the strategy.
The document then considers other scenarios, but highlights that the most important issue is that "Pence should do this without asking for permission - either from a vote of the joint session or from the Court." "The fact is that the Constitution assigns this power to the Vice President as the ultimate arbiter. We should take all of our actions with that in mind," the plan adds.
Smith is arguing that a Supreme Court ruling that granted Trump broad immunity for acts committed as president doesn't apply to the actions leading to January 6.
The legal battle over Trump's 2020 election-related charges was initially filed in 2023. Both sides are debating whether his actions are protected by presidential immunity—a decision that Chutkan will ultimately determine. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Prosecutors have described Trump's post-election actions as a coordinated effort involving several co-conspirators to overturn the legitimate results in key states that he lost to President Joe Biden in 2020.
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