Jack Smith Releases Jan. 6 Investigation Documents

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Oct 18, 2024

Above: A combination of pictures created on Aug. 27, 2024, shows Special Counsel Jack Smith (L) in Washington, DC, on June 9, 2023 and former US Pres. Donald Trump in Howell, Michigan on Aug. 20, 2024. Image copyright: Mandel Ngan and Jeff Kowalsky/Contributors/AFP via Getty Imagesstory last updated Oct 19

The Facts

US District Judge for the District of Columbia Tanya Chutkan has ordered Dept. of Justice (DOJ) special counsel Jack Smith to release more documents related to his investigation into former Pres. Donald Trump and the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
Among the nearly 2K heavily redacted pages released Friday are many social media posts made by Trump and his allies on Jan. 6, including one where Trump accused then-Vice Pres. Mike Pence of not having "the courage" to reject the 2020 election results.

The Spin

Democratic narrative

Judge Chutkan's ruling is based on common sense, as the public has a right to know everything about a presidential candidate's potential criminal history before an election. What makes this news so alarming, however, is the reaction from the Trump campaign. If the former president truly believes he did nothing wrong, then he should welcome this document release with open arms.

Republican narrative

The reason Trump is against this is not about guilt but rather following the DOJ's policy of releasing information at least 60 days before an election. As for the details of Smith's investigation, all they've shown so far is that some people decided not to follow Trump's request that everyone protest peacefully. This is a bad-faith attempt at an "October surprise."