THE RESULTS OF THE INVESTIGATION

¶In 2020, then-President Donald J. Trump ran for reelection against Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Mr. Trump lost.²² (Congressional Record 01/06/2021). As alleged in the original and superseding indictments, substantial evidence demonstrates that Mr. Trump then engaged in an unprecedented criminal effort to overturn the legitimate results of the election in order to retain power.³³ An indictment is an allegation, not a verdict; a person accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The Office was prepared to present the evidence of Mr. Trump's alleged crimes in a public adversarial trial and to accept any verdicts rendered by a jury of his peers. As explained below, the Office commenced prosecution of Mr. Trump in the Election Case under both the original and superseding indictments because it concluded that the admissible evidence would be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction. See Justice Manual § 9-27 .220 and infra at Section III.Show full note Although he did so primarily in his private capacity as a candidate, and with the assistance of multiple private co-conspirators, Mr. Trump also attempted to use the power and authority of the United States Government in furtherance of his scheme.

¶As set forth in the original and superseding indictments, when it became clear that Mr. Trump had lost the election and that lawful means of challenging the election results had failed, he reso1ied to a series of criminal efforts to retain power. This included attempts to induce state officials to ignore true vote counts; to manufacture fraudulent slates of presidential electors in seven states that he had lost; to force Justice Department officials and his own Vice President,

¶Michael R. Pence, to act in contravention of their oaths and to instead advance Mr. Trump's personal interests; and, on January 6, 2021, to direct an angry mob to the United States Capitol to obstruct the congressional certification of the presidential election and then leverage rioters'

¶violence to further delay it.⁴⁴ ECF No. l at 110; ECF No. 226 at 1 11; see ECF No. 252 at 3. In service of these efforts, Mr. Trump worked with other people to achieve a common plan: to overturn the election results and perpetuate himself in office. These individuals included Co-Conspirator 1, a private attorney who was willing to spread knowingly false claims and pursue strategies that Mr. Trump's Campaign attorneys would not;

¶Co-Conspirator 2, a private attorney who devised and attempted to implement a strategy to leverage the Vice President's ministerial role in the certification proceeding to obstruct the certification; Co-Conspirator 3, a private attorney whose unfounded claims of election fraud Mr. Trump privately acknowledged were "crazy," but which he embraced and publicly amplified nonetheless; Co-Conspirator 4, a Justice Department official who worked on civil matters and who, with Mr. Trump, attempted to use the Justice Department to open sham election crime investigations and influence state legislatures with knowingly false claims of election fraud; Co-Conspirator 5, a private attorney who assisted in devising and attempting to implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding; and Co-Conspirator 6, a private political consultant who helped implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding.⁵⁵ ECF No. l at 1 8; ECF No. 226 at 19; see ECF No. 252 at 4. WSJ Editorial Board, Jack Smith Loses in the People's Court, WSJ (Nov. 7, 2024, 5:52 PM), https://vvww.wsj.com/opinion/donald-trump-prosecutions-jack-smith-fani-willis-alvin-bragg-juan merchan-lc68f640; Jonathan Turley, Opinion: Donald Trump just won the greatest jury verdict in American history, The Hill (Nov. 6, 2024, 10:56 AM), https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4976533- trump-prosecutions-lawfare-end; Elie Honig, So What Happens With All the Cases Against Trump Now?, N.Y. Mag. (Nov. 8, 2024), https://nymag.com/intelligencer/aiiicle/what-will-happen-with-the-charges against-trump.html.Show full note The throughline of all of Mr. Trump's criminal efforts was deceit-knowingly false claims of election fraud-and the evidence shows that Mr. Trump used these lies as a weapon to defeat a federal government function foundational to the United States' democratic process.⁶⁶ See ECF No. I; ECF No. 226. Mr. Trump's conduct with Co-Conspirator 4 was charged in the original indictment, ECF No. I, but not in the superseding indictment, ECF No. 226, because the Supreme Court held in the interim that Mr. Trump's conduct regarding the Department of Justice was immunized. Trump, 603 U.S. at 597. Letter from Chairman Jim Jordan to Jeffrey Ragsdale, DOJ OPR (Dec. 4, 2024) https://www.scribd.com/document/800789357/Judiciary-to DOJ?secret_password=vphCtDdh3lHj7mTM5Ib8.Show full note

¶Mr. Trump's false claims included dozens of specific claims regarding certain states, such as that large numbers of dead, non-resident, non-citizen, or otherwise ineligible voters had cast ballots, or that voting machines had changed votes for Mr. Trump to votes against him.⁷⁷ See, e.g., ECF No. 252 at 10; SCO-02244118 at 11-12, 14-19 (Remarks by Mr. Trump at Save America Rally 01/06/2021); SCO-04949418 at 04:15:22-04:31:46 (Video of Save America Rally O1/06/2021); SCO-04976462 at 18:34-19:12 (Video of Speech at White House 12/02/2020); SCO-00455939 (Donald J. Trump Tweet I 1/19/2020); SCO-04976283 at 01:00:43-01:14:24 (Video of Dalton, GA speech 01/04/2021); SCO-04976275 at 22:00-22:40 (Video of Valdosta, GA speech 12/05/2020); SCO-00455041 (Donald J. Trump Tweet O1/02/2021); SCO-00456153 (Donald J. Trump Tweet 11/12/2020); SCO-00456144 (Donald J. Trump Tweet 11/13/2020); SCO-00456102 (Donald J. Trump Tweet I 1/14/2020); SCO-00456066 (Donald J. Trump Tweet 11/15/2020); SCO-00455969 (Donald J. Trump Tweet 11/18/2020); SCO-04976266 at 20:10-37:50 (Video of Thanksgiving Call to Troops 11/26/2020). The Future of the Independent Counsel Act: Hearings before the S. Comm. on Governmental Affairs,Show full note These claims were demonstrably and, in many cases, obviously false.⁸⁸ Compare SCO-02244118 at 11, 19 (Remarks by Mr. Trump at Save America Rally Ol/06/202 I) (Mr. Trump asserting on January 6 that there were 205,000 more votes than voters in Pennsylvania) with SCO-00709557 at 156 (SJC Tr.) (stating that Mr. Trump was told on January 3 that the allegation that there were more votes than voters in Pennsylvania was untrue); see also SCO-04976459 at 02:06:23-02:07:00 (Video of Arizona State Hearing 11/30/2020) (Co-Conspirator I stating that there could have been "five million illegal aliens in Arizona," and "a few hundred thousand" of those who fraudulently voted, even though the state had a total population of approximately 7.4 million). The Future of the Independent Counsel Act: Hearings before the S. Comm. on Governmental Affairs,Show full note The Office investigated whether Mr. Trump believed the claims he made. Evidence from a variety of sources established that Mr. Trump knew that there was no outcome-determinative fraud in the 2020 election, that many of the specific claims he made were untrue, and that he had lost the election. He knew this because some of the highest-ranking officials in his own Administration, including the Vice President, told him directly that there was no evidence to support his claims.⁹⁹ See, e.g., ECF No. I at ,r 11; see ECF No. 252 at 10-14 & nn.29-53; SCO-00014655 at 37-44; SCO-00689680 (Michael Balsamo, Disputing Trump, Barr says no widespread election fraud, ASSOCIATED PRESS, Dec. l, 2020); SCO-00764172 at 21-25 (HSC Tr.); SCO-11506911 at 96-97, 116, 125 (Int. Tr.); SCO-04957448 at 28-31 (SJC Tr.); SCO-00775937 at 57-64 (HSC Tr.); SCO-04952679 (Tweet l l/17/2020); SCO-12929351 (Tweet 11/12/2020); SCO-Show full note Mr. Trump's private advisors, both within and outside of his Campaign, told him the same.¹⁰¹⁰ See, e.g., ECF No. 252 at 9-14 & nn.29-53, 17-18 & n.69, 21 & n.95, 25; SCO-12920242 at 1-7 (Int. Rep.). On November 13, his own Campaign conceded its litigation in Arizona, a state pivotal to his reelection prospects.¹¹¹¹ See ECF No. 252 at 9 & n.24; Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. v. Hobbs, No. CV 2020-014248, Transcript of Proceedings (Maricopa County, Az. Super. Ct. Nov. 13, 2020); Hobbs, No. CV 2020-014248, Docket Code 042 (Maricopa County, Az. Super. Ct. Nov. 13, 2020). Id. Maggie Haberman et al., Trump Says He'll Fire Jack Smith, Special Counsel Who Indicted Him, ifHe Wins Again, N.Y. Times (Oct. 24, 2024), https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/24/us/politics/trump-jack smith.html.Show full note State officials and legislators whom Mr. Trump pressured to change vote tallies or stop certifications of results rebuffed him and informed him that his fraud claims were wrong, both privately and through public statements.¹²¹² See ECF No. 252 at 14 & nn.52-53; see also, e.g., SCO-0082936 l at 17 (HSC Tr.) (state legislator told Mr. Trump that "he primarily lost Michigan because of two counties that are routinely Republican counties ... and more specifically he underperformed with educated females"); SCO-11509450 at 25 (Int. Tr.) (state legislator told Mr. Trump that state officials had not seen evidence of widespread fraud); SCO-04953053 (Joint Statement l l/20/2020) (state legislators' statement that they are unaware of"any information that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan" and noting legislative review of the state's elections process); SCO-04952823 (Statement 12/04/2020) (state legislator citing U.S. Attorney General's statement that he had not seen outcome-detenninative election fraud); SCO-06730226 (Letter to Maricopa County Voters 11/17/2020) (noting "no evidence of fraud or misconduct or malfunction" in the over two million ballots cast); SCO-00614161 at 1335 (Tweets 12/01/2020) (describing Arizona election security measures, including poll ID and hand-conducted signature review); SCO-04957281 (Georgia Secretary of State News Release 10/23/2020) (refuting that electronic ballot marking is particularly vulnerable to cyberattack); SCO-04957309 (Georgia Secretary of State News Release 11/05/2020) (noting ballot count progress and listing voting security measures); SCO-12876768 (Video of Georgia Secretary of State Press Conference 11/06/2020) (giving numbers of rejected ballots from unregistered and non-citizen voters, and partially counted ballots from out-of-precinct voters); SCO-12876769 (Video of Georgia Secretary of State Press Conference l l/09/2020) (refuting allegations about ballot counting at State Farm Arena, software malfunctions, more votes than voters, and ballot harvesting, among others); SCO-1287677 l (Video of Georgia Secretary of State Press Conference 11/12/2020) (addressing decision to conduct risk-limiting audit, explaining under-voting in presidential race, refuting allegations that computers and software flipped votes); SCO-04957154 (Georgia Secretary of State News Release l l/18/2020) ( explaining that 2020 election absentee ballot rejection rate was equivalent to that in the 2018 general election); SCO-04957157 (Georgia Secretary of State News Release 11/19/2020) (risk-limiting audit results confirmed machine ballot count results); SCO-04957179 (Georgia Secretary of State News Release 12/07/2020) (hand recount and formal recount requested by Mr. Trump's campaign confirmed original election results; Co-Conspirator 3's lawsuit dismissed); SCO-04976277 (Video of Georgia Secretary of State Press Conference l 2/07/2020) (refuting allegations about vote-switching algorithms and "secret suitcases" of ballots at State Farm Arena and noting that in-person voting always requires identification); SCO-12896570 (Video of Georgia Secretary of State Press Conference 12/16/2020) (stating that hand vote count confirmed machine count, signature matching was performed, "there were no votes flipped," and full video of vote counting at State Fann Arena confirmed no wrongdoing); SCO-04957276 (Georgia Secretary of State News Release 12/29/2020) (recounts and signature audit confirmed original Georgia election results, and signature matching in Cobb County found no fraudulent ballots); SCO-04976281 (Video of Interview 0 l/02/2021) (election audit and full recount confirmed that Mr. Trump lost in Alan Feuer, Special Counsel Is Said to Be Planning to Pursue Trump Cases Past the Election, N.Y. Times (July 2, 2024), https://wv.w.nytimes.com/2024/07 /02/us/politics/jack-smith-trump-charges.html.Show full note Mr. Trump also monitored legal developments

¶03036930 (Joint Statement on Election Security 11/12/2020); SCO-00003294 at 37, 39-43; SCO-00015002 at 22-24; SCO-12920242 at 1-7 (Int. Rep.); SCO-00006256 at 46-47, 59, 74-76.

¶regarding the election and was on notice that state and federal courts rejected every post-election lawsuit that Mr. Trump and his allies filed claiming outcome-determinative election fraud.¹³¹³ See, e.g., ECF No. 252 at 18, 36-37 & nn.181-183, 41 & nn.207-208, 44-45 & nn.227-230; SCO-00455873, SCO- I 2987569 (Donald J. Trump Tweet I 1/21/2020) (about failed Pennsylvania lawsuit); SCO-00455356, SCO-12858834 (Donald J. Trump Tweet 12/12/2020) (about failed Supreme Court lawsuit); SCO-00455197, SCO-00455196, SCO-00455195, SCO-12987423, SCO-12987422, SCO-12987421 (Donald J. Trump Tweets 12/21/2020) (about failed Wisconsin lawsuit); SCO-00790949 at 170-171 (HSC Tr.) (Senior Advisor noting that, in Mr. Trump's presence, he challenged Co-Conspirator 3 about losing lawsuits across the country); SCO-00014205 at 7-8, Pierre Thomas et al., Special counsel Jack Smith expected to wind down Trump prosecutions: Sources, ABC News (Nov. 6, 2024, 3:26 PM), https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/special-counsel-jack-smith expected-wind-trump-prosecutions/story?id=l 15571646; Devlin Barrett, Jack Smith Assesses How to Wind Down Trump's Federal Cases, Official Says, N.Y. Times (Nov. 6, 2024), https://www.nytimes.com/2024/l l/06/us/politics/doj-trump-federal-cases.html. Blanche Law PLLC 99 Wall Street, Suite 4460 New York, NY 10005 I (212) 716-1250 www.BlancheLaw.com IShow full note Mr. Trump and co-conspirators could not have believed the specific fraud claims that they were

¶Georgia election); SCO-12998394 (Tr. of Georgia Secretary of State Call O1/02/2021); SCO-04976282 (Video of Georgia Secretary of State Press Conference O1/04/2021) (among other issues, refuting specific allegations about: Dominion voting machines; State Farm Arena ballot counting; convicted felons voting-74 at most, not 2,506; underage voters-zero, not 66,248; unregistered voters-zero, not 2,423; voting past the registration deadline zero, not 4,926); SCO-04955691 (Michigan Secretary of State web page 11/06/2020) (voting machine software did not malfunction, no ballots were backdated); SCO-12876350 (Michigan Secretary of State web page 12/08/2020) (noting that Antrim County reporting error was accidental human error and citing U.S. Attorney General, FBI, and CISA view that 2020 election was "the most secure election in our nation's history and, despite unprecedented scrutiny, there has been no evidence of widespread fraud identified whatsoever"); SCO-02243762 (Michigan Attorney General and Secretary of State News Release 12/14/2020) (affirming that the "general election in Michigan and across the country was the most secure in the nation's history"); SCO-04957382 (Michigan Secretary of State web page 12/17/2020) (hand audit confirmed Antrim County election results and showed Dominion machines accurately calculated results); SCO-12839140 (Michigan Secretary of State web page 12/18/2020) (stating that final numbers from "Antrim County hand-tallied audit yesterday continue to affirm the accuracy of the Nov.³³ An indictment is an allegation, not a verdict; a person accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The Office was prepared to present the evidence of Mr. Trump's alleged crimes in a public adversarial trial and to accept any verdicts rendered by a jury of his peers. As explained below, the Office commenced prosecution of Mr. Trump in the Election Case under both the original and superseding indictments because it concluded that the admissible evidence would be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction. See Justice Manual § 9-27 .220 and infra at Section III.Show full note general election certified results"); SCO-02963078 (Video of Statement by City Clerk in Rochester Hills, Michigan) (stating that "[t]here were no missing ballots" and "[t]he accusation that 2,000 ballots were found is categorically false"); SCO-04957413 (New Mexico Secretary of State News Release 12/14/2020) (announcing that New Mexico's electoral votes went to Mr. Biden and that the 2020 election was "the most secure in American history"); SCO- 12876770 (Video of Interview of Philadelphia City Commissioner with CNN 11/11/2020) (stating that there were no dead voters and no provisional ballots cast by ineligible voters and confirming that "[w]e just had the most transparent and secure election in the history of Philadelphia"); SCO-12929345 (Tweet 11/27/2020) (Philadelphia City Commissioner responding to Mr. Trump's 11/27/2020 Tweet and confinning, "Not only is there no evidence of 'massive' voter fraud in Philadelphia, but there haven't been any documented instances in the many lawsuits filed in Pennsylvania"); SCO-04956023 (Pennsylvania Department of State Public Response Statement 12/29/2020) (refuting misinformation in letter from Republican lawmakers that state data was contradicted by county-level data and explaining the state's risk-limiting audit to ensure accurate vote counts); SCO-12837952 (Wisconsin Elections Commission web page 11/05/2020) (impossible to have more votes than voters, and no absentee ballots were found in the middle of the night); SCO-12848641 (Wisconsin Elections Commission web page 11/10/2020) (no credible evidence to undermine unofficial election results or support allegations of widespread election issues, only registered voters can request absentee ballots, and ballot signatures can never be added by poll workers); SCO- 12838580 (Wisconsin Elections Commission web page 12/16/2020) (Dominion machines did not flip votes, 200,000 people did not illegally vote without identification, and absentee ballots were not issued without a ballot application); SCO-12845421 (Nevada Secretary of State Facts vs. Myths Release 12/18/2020) ("we have yet to see any evidence of wide-spread fraud"; "we have not been presented with evidence of non-citizens voting in the 2020 election").

making because the numbers they touted-for instance, of dead voters in a particular state frequently vacillated wildly from day to day or were objectively impossible,¹⁴¹⁴ See, e.g., ECF No. 252 at 15 & nn.55-59 (Arizona); id. at 21 & n.96, 30 & n.142, 122-123 & n.592 (Georgia). For Arizona, see, e.g., SCO-04976384 at 20:47 (Common Sense episode 89 11/25/2020) ("36,000"); SCO-04976459 at 02:06:23-02:07:00 (Video of Arizona State Hearing 11/30/2020) ("a few hundred thousand"); SCO-06628641 at 18:52-19:42 (War Room episode 608 12/24/2020) ("about 250,000"); SCO-06628646 at 35:19-35:45 (War Room episode 625 01/02/2021) ("32,000"); SCO-02244118 at 17 (Remarks by Mr. Trump at Save America Rally 01/06/2021) ("36,000"). Additional examples are discussed below. See, e.g., infra at nn.155-158 (Georgia). ECF No. 252, United States v. Trump, No. 23 Cr. 257 (D.D.C. Oct. 2, 2024).Show full note including, for example, Co-Conspirator 3's claims about voting machines that Mr. Trump privately

¶acknowledged sounded "crazy"¹⁵¹⁵ See ECF No. 252 at 44 & n.224; SCO-115234 77 at 94-103 (Int. Tr.). ECF No. 243 at 2, United States v. Trump, No. 23 Cr. 257 (D.D.C. Sept. 24, 2024). before he publicly amplified them.¹⁶¹⁶ See ECF No. 252 at 44-45 & nn.227-229; SCO-00455825 (Donald J. Trump Retweet 11/24/2020); SCO-12858284 (Tweet 11/24/2020) (showing Donald J. Trump Retweet); SCO-00455769, SCO-12858342 (Donald J. Trump Retweet 11/26/2020); SCO-04949395 at 3 (Remarks by Mr. Trump on the Presidential Election 12/02/2020); SCO-02244118 at 18-19 (Remarks by Mr. Trump at Save America Rally O1/06/2021). See also A Review of Various Actions by the Federal Bureau oflnvestigation and Department of Justice in Advance of the 2016 Election, U.S. Dep't ofJustice Office of Inspector General (June 2018) at 18 ("[I]n general, the practice has been not to take actions that might have an impact on an election, even if it's not an election case or something like that."), available at https://s3 .documentcloud.org/documents/4515 884/DOJ-OI G-2016-Electio_n-Final-Report.pdf. Blanche Law PLLC 99 Wall Street, Suite 4460 I New York, NY 10005 (212) 716-1250 I www.BlancheLaw.comShow full note Finally, at times, Mr. Trump made comments implicitly acknowledging that he knew he had lost the election. For example, in a January 3, 2021 Oval Office meeting regarding a national security matter, Mr. Trump stated in part, "[I]t's too late for us. We're going to give that to the next guy," meaning President-elect Biden.¹⁷¹⁷ See ECF No. 1 at ,r 83.

¶Mr. Trump aimed his deceit at the United States' process of collecting, counting, and certifying votes, which flows from the Constitution and a federal law enacted in 1887 called the Electoral Count Act (ECA). The Constitution provides that the United States President is selected through the votes of individuals called electors and that each state determines how to appoint its electors.¹⁸¹⁸ U.S. CONST. art. II, § 1. Through state laws, all fifty states and the District of Columbia have chosen to select electors based on the popular vote.¹⁹¹⁹ ECF No. I at if 9; ECF No. 226 at ,r 10; see ECF No. 252 at 4; About the Electors, NATIONAL ARCHIVES, https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/electors; see also Chiafalo v. Washington, 591 U.S. 578, 581, 584-85 & n. l (2020). Therefore, after election day, pursuant to the ECA, each state formally determines-or "ascertains"-its electors based on the popular vote; the ascertained electors meet on a day determined by the ECA and cast their votes based on their state's popular vote; and the ascertained electors mail their electoral votes, along with a certification from the state executive that they are the state's legitimate electors, to the United States Congress to be counted and certified in an official proceeding.²⁰²⁰ Electoral Count Act, 3 U.S.C. §§ 5-11. OC00163 IB, Order at 13-24, 28-34 (Nev. Dist. Ct. Dec. 4, 2020), https://electioncases.osu.edu/wp content/uploads/2020/11/Law-v-Gloria-Order-Granting-Motion-to-Dismiss.pdf [https://perma.cc/32U2-BTA6]; ECF No. 262, United States v. Trump, No. 23 Cr. 80101 (S.D. Fla. Jan. 16, 2024). The Constitution and ECA provide that on the sixth of January following election day, the Congress meets for that certification proceeding, which is presided over by the Vice President as President of the Senate; the legitimate electors' votes are opened and counted; and the winner is certified.²¹²¹ U.S. CONST. amend. XII; Electoral Count Act, 3 U.S.C. § 15. Freeman v. Giuliani, No. 21-cv-3354, ECF No. 90 at 1-2 (D.D.C. Aug. 8, 2023) (Def. Stipulation), ECF No. 142 (D.D.C. Dec. 18, 2023) (Final Judgment). Special Counsel's Office, DOJ, Statements of Expenditures, https://www.justice.gov/sco-smith. Blanche Law PLLC 99 Wall Street, Suite 4460 New York, NY 10005 I (212) 716-1250 www.BlancheLaw.com IShow full note Until Mr. Trump obstructed it, this democratic process had operated in a peaceful and orderly manner for more than 130 years.