Jack Smith Receives Unexpected Gift From Donald Trump

Former President Donald Trump claimed he wanted to go to the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to stop the rioters but the Secret Service prevented him, according to newly released audio.

A federal grand jury in August indicted Trump on four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States. Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith has investigated Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, including attempts to submit false slates of pro-Trump electors from swing states he lost to the Electoral College.

The charges also refer to the former president's activities surrounding the January 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol.

Smith argues in his 45-page indictment against Trump that the former president repeatedly attempted to remain in power despite losing to President Joe Biden in 2020, including by inciting the occupation of the Capitol building by Trump supporters while Congress was officially certifying Joe Biden's victory.

In a March 2021 interview with ABC News's Jonathan Karl, Trump claimed that he had "wanted to go back" to the Capitol building "to stop the problem" but the Secret Service advised him against it.

Karl released the audio to CNN to publicize his new book: Tired of Winning: Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party.

"No, I was going to, and then Secret Service said you can't," Trump said.

"I wanted to go back. I was thinking about going back during the problem to stop the problem, doing it myself," said Trump.

"Secret Service didn't like that idea too much," he added.

Trump also told Karl that he would have been "very well received" by his supporters at the Capitol.

Trump added, "Don't forget, the people that went to Washington that day, in my opinion, they went because they thought the election was rigged. That's why they went."

Newsweek sought email comment from Trump's attorney on Friday.

An ex-White House aide, Cassidy Hutchinson, told the January 6 Committee that Trump grabbed the wheel of the presidential limousine and shouted at the Secret Service while trying to reach his supporters in the Capitol, recalling him saying, "I'm the f***ing president. Take me up to the Capitol now."

Smith filed a brief in federal court earlier this month in which he claimed that Trump is continuing to glorify the January 6 attack and using it to win support for his 2024 presidential campaign.

Trump begins his presidential campaign rallies with a prison recording entitled 'Justice For All' which features January 6 prisoners, known as the January 6 Choir, singing the national anthem, intercut with Trump reciting the pledge of allegiance.

In a filing before a Washington, D.C., federal court in early November, Smith noted recent Trump comments at a campaign rally in which he praised the choir.

"Of the January 6 Choir, the defendant told the crowd, "[O]ur people love those people, they love those people," Smith noted.

"In the years since January 6, despite his knowledge of the violent actions at the Capitol, the defendant has publicly praised and defended rioters and their conduct," Smith wrote.

Smith was replying to a motion by Trump's lawyers in Washington, D.C., to have Trump's election interference case thrown out, based on "selective and vindictive prosecution" by Smith and his team.

The use of the choir to show Trump's support for the January 6 riot opens up the possibility that it will be used as evidence when Trump goes on trial next year. The Karl tapes could also be potentially used by Smith and his team.

Judge Tanya Chutkan has yet to rule on Trump's motion to dismiss the case and the trial is set to go to trial in March.

Trump maintains his innocence, accusing prosecutors of targeting him for political purposes. He pleaded not guilty in this case, as he did in his three other criminal cases.