In a significant development in Donald Trump’s election interference case, Judge Tanya Chutkan has ordered the release of nearly 2,000 pages of heavily redacted evidence from the special counsel’s office. This release includes a variety of documents that trace the history of the former president’s efforts to deny the legitimacy of the 2020 election.
The newly unsealed documents consist of transcripts of Trump’s remarks, interviews conducted by the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack, campaign emails, and the infamous “coup memo” that outlined dubious legal strategies to reject the electoral college certification. While much of this information had been previously disclosed, it now appears within approximately 1,889 pages of appendices aimed at supporting special counsel Jack Smith’s case against Trump.
Despite objections from Trump’s legal team, Judge Chutkan approved the release of these documents, which come in the wake of a 165-page motion from Smith detailing new evidence against the former president. This motion argues that Trump is not shielded from criminal charges related to his attempts to overturn the election results.
The newly released documents include significant excerpts from former Vice President Mike Pence’s memoir, So Help Me God, where he recounts Trump’s attempts to pressure him into blocking the certification of Joe Biden’s victory. One highlighted section reveals Pence’s firm stance.
“I told him, as I had told him many times before, that I did not believe I possessed the power under the Constitution to decide votes to accept or reject. He just kept coming,” Pence said in one highlighted portion of the document.
Additionally, the release features a heavily redacted transcript from a January 6 Committee interview with Rusty Bowers, the former Arizona House Speaker. Bowers recounted a phone call with Trump during which he rejected Trump’s request to disregard the state’s Biden electors, leading him to abruptly hang up the phone.
“That’s exactly what I did,” Bowers told committee member Adam Schiff during the June 19, 2022 interview. “I disconnected us. I hung up on him.”
Trump’s attorneys sought to postpone the release until after the 2024 presidential election, but Judge Chutkan dismissed their request, emphasizing the importance of transparency in this ongoing case.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to the four federal charges against him related to election interference.
As developments unfold, this story remains in progress and will be updated accordingly.
