Special Counsel Jack Smith said that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will seek a “speedy trial” in the latest case against former President Donald Trump on charges stemming from January 6.
Trump was indicted by a Washington, DC, grand jury on Tuesday on four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights, in relation to the January 6 capitol riots.
Smith described the Capitol riots as “an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy,” and claimed it was “fueled by lies” during a press conference shortly after the indictment against Trump was unsealed.
“Lies by the defendant targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the U.S. government, a nation’s process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election,” Smith said.
Smith praised the law enforcement officers who “defended the U.S. Capitol” on January 6 as “heroes.”
“They’re patriots and they’re the very best of us. They did not just defend a building or the people sheltering in it. They put their lives on the line to defend who we are as a country and as a people. They defended the very institutions and principles that define the United States,” Smith added.
Smith said the four-count indictment against Trump is consistent with the DOJ’s commitment to ensure “accountability for those criminally responsible for what happened that day.”
Smith announced his team is still investigating “other individuals” in connection with January 6.
In a statement released just before the indictment was unsealed, Trump’s campaign blasted it as “the latest corrupt chapter in the continued pathetic attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their weaponized Department of Justice to interfere with the 2024 Presidential Election.”
Smith plans to seek a “speedy trial” to ensure the DOJ’s “evidence can be tested in court and judged by a jury of citizens,” he added.
However, he cautioned that the indictment “is only an allegation and that the defendant must be presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”
Smith then thanked the FBI officials working with his team and the “career prosecutors and law enforcement agents” nationwide who have worked on previous January 6 investigations.
“These women and men are public servants of the very highest order, and it is a privilege to work alongside them,” Smith concluded.
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter.
