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Federal judge allows documents in Trump election interference case to be released

The newly revealed documents come weeks after Smith alleged that Trump engaged in a "private criminal effort" to try and overturn the results of the 2020 election.
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Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan has allowed Special Counsel Jack Smith to unseal new documents related to former President Donald Trump's election interference case. Chutkan blocked Trump's request to delay the release of the documents until after the election.

Instead, she argued withholding the documents could be seen as election interference.

The newly revealed documents come weeks after Smith alleged that Trump engaged in a "private criminal effort" to try and overturn the results of the 2020 election.

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The documents were released in several volumes and contained 2,000 pages of mostly redacted material. Much of the unredacted material included already public information, including tweets from the former president, news statements, along with items previously revealed during the House of Representatives' hearings into the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

The volumes also show that Smith used information gathered during the House's inquiry, such as text messages and meeting notes, to make his case against Trump.

Earlier this month, Smith released a 165-page document to show there is evidence that Trump committed criminal acts outside the scope of presidential immunity, which was outlined in the U.S. Supreme Court's July decision.

Trump faces criminal charges, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding. A trial date has not been announced as Chutkan waited for the Supreme Court to rule on what sort of immunity is afforded to sitting presidents.

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