Trump Calls Jack Smith Filing ‘Election Interference’—As He Tees Up Dispute Of Potential Loss

Topline

Former President Donald Trump repeated his baseless claims that the federal election subversion case against him amounts to “election interference” in the wake of the unsealing of a new filing Wednesday—foreshadowing one of the ways he and his allies are gearing up to dispute the results of the 2024 election if he loses to Vice President Kamala Harris.

Key Facts

Trump’s Legal Issues: Trump called the unsealing of Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith’s full criminal case against him “election interference” and “weaponization of the government . . . 30 days before the election,” in comments to NewsNation, claims he has repeatedly made in contesting the various criminal and civil cases against him, alleging, without evidence, the prosecutors bringing the cases are working in tandem with the Biden administration to hurt his chances of winning in November.

Immigration: Trump has repeatedly, and baselessly, claimed that undocumented migrants routinely vote in US elections, and his allies have already filed a series of lawsuits that center around the claim, some of which allege states don’t have the proper protections in place to prevent non-citizen voting, including suits filed by the Trump-aligned America First Legal group in Arizona and Nevada challenging the voter status of people who registered without requiring proof of citizenship, which is required in state elections, but not federal.

Election processes: The immigration-related challenges are among nearly 90 lawsuits filed by Republican groups across the country laying the groundwork to dispute the validity of the results, according to a tally by The New York Times, including a lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, the state’s third-largest county, claiming election officials missed the deadline to complete logic and accuracy testing of the state’s voting machines.

Mail-in ballots: Republicans are targeting absentee ballots in at least two swing states—in Michigan, a Republican National Committee lawsuit argues absentee ballots should be deemed invalid if they are mailed without a written statement from election officials verifying the voter’s signature on the absentee ballot request form, and in North Carolina, the GOP is demanding absentee ballots be tossed if they weren’t mailed in a “container-return” sealed envelope.

Harassment of election officials: The Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute nonprofit, along with conservative nonprofit, the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, is suing state officials to prevent a law that prohibits harassment of elections officials and voters from taking effect, arguing the law is too vague and impedes on their First Amendment rights; the law is currently blocked as the case works its way through the courts.

Harris replacing Biden: Trump and his allies have alleged Harris’ late entrance into the race was a “coup” and “unconstitutional” because she announced her candidacy after Biden had already won the primaries—a claim that could to sow distrust in the election, but has no legal basis, since Biden’s delegates formally nominated Harris, according to some election law experts.

Iranian interference: Trump has alleged the Harris campaign was “illegally spying” on him in the wake of Justice Department charges against three Iranian hackers accused of stealing information from his campaign and sending it to the Biden campaign, though the FBI has said there is no evidence of coordination between the Biden-Harris campaign and the hackers.

News Peg

The unsealing of Smith’s filing revealed new details in his case against Trump accusing him of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Smith alleged in the new filing that Trump acknowledged the claims the election was rife with fraud and stolen from him had no merit and that he planned to declare victory before the votes were tallied. Trump also hired former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to lead the legal team fighting the election results in court because he couldn’t find any other lawyers who were willing to take the case and he knew Giuliani “was willing to falsely claim victory,” according to the court papers. Trump also allegedly reacted with apathy when he was alerted that former Vice President Mike Pence had to be moved to a secure location during the Jan. 6 attack, responding “So what?” when an aide told him. Trump, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, argued Tuesday on Truth Social the documents shouldn’t have been released before the election. He also accused the Justice Department of unveiling them to distract from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s performance in Tuesday’s vice presidential debate.

Contra

Democrats and Democrat-aligned groups have also filed a series of election-related lawsuits challenging rules in Republican-led states, generally arguing that the laws are too restrictive, could hinder voter access and unnecessarily delay the election process. The Georgia state and national Democratic parties sued Georgia last month, arguing new rules from the Georgia State Election Board could allow county election officials to reject the results. The rules require county election officials to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” into possible fraud and misconduct. Democrats argue the county election officials don’t have the authority to refuse certification of the results and that any allegations of fraud and misconduct should be handled in court, not by county elections officials.

Tangent

Trump has said he will accept the election results if it’s a “fair and legal and good election,” he said during the June CNN debate with President Joe Biden. At the same time, he has repeatedly said on the campaign trail he believes the only way Democrats can win is if they cheat. Trump also said recently in an interview with the radio program “Full Measure,” he wouldn’t run again in 2028 if he loses.

What To Watch For

Some Republicans in Congress have echoed Trump’s stance that they will only accept the election results if it’s a fair election without any evidence of fraud or misconduct. Congress is charged with certifying the results of the electoral college, typically a routine, ceremonial process that was upended in the wake of the 2020 election as Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to prevent Congress from approving the results. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who helped draft legal arguments some Republicans in Congress used to support their decision to vote against the certification of the results, told reporters last week “of course if we have a free, fair and safe election, we’re going to follow the Constitution, absolutely.”

Key Background

Trump’s legal efforts to contest the results of the 2020 election by claiming various types of fraud and mismanagement resoundingly failed. Of the 64 cases Trump and his allies filed in the six battleground states (Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada), only one—in Pennsylvania—was successful, according to a 2022 report, “Lost, Not Stolen,” by a group of eight conservative legal experts. The cases included allegations of improper ballot counting, voting machine malfunctions, irregularities in absentee ballot processes and voter ineligibility. The cases were dismissed by both Republican and Democratic state and federal judges, including some appointed by Trump.

Key Background

Trump Doesn’t Commit To Accept Election Result As He Downplays January 6 Riots (Forbes)

Trump Says He Likely Won’t Run Again In 2028 If He Loses To Harris (Forbes)

Trump Falsely Claims ‘Crazed Democrats’ Allow ‘Unvetted Migrants’ To Vote (Forbes)