“When the defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes to try to stay in office,” Smith’s filing said. “With private co-conspirators, the defendant launched a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results in seven states that he had lost.”
“The defendant also knew that he had only one last hope to prevent Biden’s certification as President: the large and angry crowd standing in front of him. So for more than an hour, the defendant delivered a speech designed to inflame his supporters and motivate them to march to the Capitol,” Smith added.
The DOJ also notes that Trump “laid the groundwork for his crimes well before” Election Day by encouraging his supporters to declare an early victory despite repeated advice from his political advisors to not do so.
“The throughline of these efforts was deceit: the defendant’s and co-conspirators’ knowingly false claims of election fraud,” the filing said.