Because my attempt to synopsize [[Jack Smith Immunity Brief (Jan 6th case)]] has become larger than I imagined, here I'm going to give the synopsis of the synopsis. In each of the bullet points below, I include the link to the larger, more complete recounting of what is in Jack Smith's immunity brief, currently before D.C. Judge Chutkan. If you wish to pursue a more detailed understanding, I invite you to follow the link to the larger file. # Trump started laying the ground work for his attempt to subvert the election **months** before the election - Trump started claiming months before the election that the only way he'd lose is if there was massive fraud. Trump was advised by [[Roger Stone]] and [[Steve Bannon]] to simply declare victory, whatever the outcome, and go from there. He followed their advice, and one of his arguments was that mail-in ballots were inherently fraudulent and the election should be called the night of the election. He'd been advised by many people in his campaign staff, including [[Roger Stone]] that it was unlikely that the results would be known on election night, and that a phenomenon known as the **red mirage** would see Trump's lead would shrink as the mail-in and absentee ballots started to be counted, because Democrats tended to favor mail-in voting. This result was virtually guaranteed, since he'd advised his voters to go to the polls rather than using mail-in ballots, thereby making his lies about the questionable nature of the latter a necessity if he was going to attempt to claim victory before the mail-in vote was counted. [[Jack Smith Immunity Brief (Jan 6th case)#Formation of the Conspiracies (pp 5-10)(pc1 9:48-19:14)|Formation of the Conspiracies (pp 5-10)(pc1 9:48-19:14)]] - However, he knew he'd lost the election. He was told multiple times by his campaign staff, by members of the administration and by the fellow Republicans in the battleground states that there was no evidence of **outcome-determinative fraud** in any of those states. It is, therefore **not reasonable to conclude that Trump still believed he'd won**. From the date that all of the states had declared their victors, Trump knew the truth, and was simply lying in pursuit of his goal to remain in power. [[Jack Smith Immunity Brief (Jan 6th case)#The defendant knew his claims of outcome-determinative fraud were false. (pp 10-15) (pc1 19:15-)|The defendant knew his claims of outcome-determinative fraud were false. (pp 10-15) (pc1 19:15-)]] - Thereafter, he started a pressure campaign targeting state officials in the battleground states he lost. Tellingly, he only ever contacted Republicans in these states, and he **never raised any claims of fraud in any other races down-ballot, he only ever discussed the outcome in his race**. In most cases he did not contact the people most knowledgeable and having responsibility for assuring the security of the election process, preferring to contact the Govenor, or some legislators. In those states where there was a mix of parties (e.g. Michigan), he never contacted anyone in the Democratic party. He continued to tell the same lies to the state officials he's been telling since shortly after the election, even though he knew by this time that those claims were false. And they kept telling him he was wrong, and that he'd lost. But he never stopped telling the same lies. [[Jack Smith Immunity Brief (Jan 6th case)#The Defendant Aimed Deceit at the Targeted States to Alter Their Ascertainment and Appointment of Electors (pp16-)|The Defendant Aimed Deceit at the Targeted States to Alter Their Ascertainment and Appointment of Electors (pp16-)]] - When it became clear that the state officials wouldn't do what he wanted and throw the election to him by extra-legal and illegal means, his co-conspirators started on another plan: the **fake electors scheme**. Under the pretext of creating a set of **contingent** electors to be used **only** in the case that one or more of his court cases went his way, he, co-conspirators [[Kenneth Chesebro]], [[Boris Epshteyn]] and [[John Eastman]] worked with Republican officials in the battleground states to create _alternative slates of electors_. Chesebro, Epshteyn and Eastman told these electors that they would only be used if the court cases succeeded, but behind the scenes they knew this was a lie (private communications between them and Trump show this), but they kept this fact from the _fake electors_. When some of them (Pennsylvania, in particular) asked that language be included in the certificate making the contingent nature of these votes explicit, Chesebro and Eastman panicked, worried that the other slates of electors would hear of it, and demand the same. They hid this fact from the other _fake electors_. As it is, the fake Pennsylvania electors got their way and language appeared that declared that these votes should only be used if court cases went Trump's way. (and we all know they didn't) This is probably the reason why none of the PA electors have been investigated, or charged, while those in MI and GA have, and the AZ electors are being investigated. However, this isn't only element of the conspiracy surrounding the **fake electors**. Thereafter, they pressured Vice President [[Mike Pence]] to use these electors rather than those who had been lawfully certified by the states. When Pence refused to countenance this illegality, they suggested that, rather than simply substituting the **fake electors**, Pence instead declare that there were competing slates of electors, and he wasn't in a position to choose between them, so Pence should suspend the certification for 10 days and send the matter back down to the state legislatures, where the conspirators were assured of victory. Again, Pence refused, saying (correctly), that he lacked the authority to choose between electors, or to do anything other than open the ballots and count the votes. But the mendacity and duplicity of the conspirators goes further, because part of Chesebro's and Eastman's plan was to just **sow confusion** and **gum up the works** so much so that the deadline would be missed for certifying the election, and then the matter would be thrown to the House of Representatives, where they were sure to win. [Jack Smith Immunity Brief (Jan 6th case)#The Defendant Organized and Caused His Electors to Submit Fraudulent Certificants Creating the False Appearance that State Submitted Competing Electoral Slates (pp47-72)|The Defendant Organized and Caused His Electors to Submit Fraudulent Certificants Creating the False Appearance that State Submitted Competing Electoral Slates (pp47-72)]] - To add to the pressure on Pence to select the fraudulent slates of **fake electors**, On Jan 6 Donald Trump held a rally where he and his allies [[John Eastman]], [[Rudy Giuliani]], [[Mo Brooks]] (an Alabama Rebulican), [[Kimberly Guilfoyle]], [[Donald Trump Jr.]] and [[Donald Trump]] all gave fiery speeches whose effect was to whip them into a fury, saying things like "- **"If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore."**, and **"We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women."** (Trump), **"We know there was fraud, traditional fraud that occurred."** (Eastman), - **"Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass!"** and - **"Are you willing to do what it takes to fight for America?!"** (Mo Brooks, who, tellingly, wore body armor under his shirt), and more of the same. [[Jack Smith Immunity Brief (Jan 6th case)#The Defendant Caused Unlawful Conduct on January 6 and Tried to Take Advantage of the Riot That Ensued. (pp72-85)|The Defendant Caused Unlawful Conduct on January 6 and Tried to Take Advantage of the Riot That Ensued. (pp72-85)]] - After the speech, Trump wanted to go with the mob to the capitol, but the Secret Service didn't allow him. The capitol was breached at 2:11 pm. Trump left the rally at 1:19pm. At 2:24 Trump issues a tweet complaining about Pence not **"courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!""** At this point, the rioters were inside the capital, threatening the congress men and women. When a campaign aid, Nick Luna, received a call that Pence had been moved to a safe location and told Trump, Trump responded "**So what?**" Several people in the riot with bullhorns read the tweet to the rioters and this sent them into a frenzy. Approximately 140 police officers were injured in the riot, and four died by suicide. Trump, on the other hand, sat in the White House dining room until 4:17 watching Fox News and looking at his twitter feed. So he watched the events at the capital for nearly 3 hours without doing anything to stem the violence. **The leader of the people storming the capital did nothing to stop the violence for nearly 3 hours while the capital was assaulted**. Just think about that and try to tell me that this wasn't what he wanted. The capital was cleared by 8am, the certification resumed and finished around 1am Jan 7.