Trump engaged in ‘unprecedented criminal effort,’ special counsel says in final report on 2020 election case [Video]

Donald Trump engaged in an “unprecedented criminal effort” to “unlawfully retain power” after losing the 2020 election, Jack Smith said in a report published early Tuesday by the U.S. Justice Department, with the special counsel expressing confidence in the prospects for a conviction at a trial that will not happen now that Trump is returning to the White House.

The report details the special counsel’s decision to bring a four-count indictment against Trump, accusing him of plotting to obstruct the collection and certification of votes following his 2020 defeat by Democratic President Joe Biden.

It concludes that the evidence would have been “sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction” at trial, but his election win on Nov. 5 effectively …