President-elect Trump allegedly spread "demonstrably and, in many cases, obviously false" claims about his 2020 election loss in an effort to overturn results, Special Counsel Jack Smith alleged in the final report of his investigation, published early Tuesday.

Why it matters: The Justice Department closed its investigations in the face of Trump's November election win, but Smith maintains in the report he would have secured a conviction in the case if it had gone to trial.

Driving the news: The Department of Justice published Volume One of the report it's sending to Congress early Tuesday.

• "The department's view that the Constitution prohibits the continued indictment and prosecution of a president is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the government's proof or the merits of the prosecution, which the office stands fully behind," Smith wrote in the report first shared with NBC News.
• "Indeed, but for Mr. Trump's election and imminent return to the presidency, the office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial."

The other side: Trump responded to the release of volume one of the DOJ report by calling Smith a "lamebrain prosecutor who was unable to get his case tried before the election" in a post his Truth Social platform early Tuesday.

Zoom in: Smith in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland accompanying the report defended his prosecution of Trump, who has...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMib0FVX3lxTE9SUTdTZGhFVjc3UVlVNHI3NEJK...