Jack Smith

No one.

No one should be above the law in this country and the law required that he be held to account.

So that is what I did.

To have done otherwise on the facts of these cases would have been to shirk my duties as a prosecutor and as a public servant.

which I had no intention of doing.

I remain grateful for the counsel, judgment and advice of my team.

President Trump has sought to seek revenge against career prosecutors, FBI agents and support staff simply for having worked on these cases.

To vilify and seek retribution against these people is wrong.

Those dedicated public servants are the best of us, and it has been a privilege

After nearly 30 years of public service, including in international settings, I have seen how the rule of law can erode.

My fear is that we have seen the rule of law function in our country for so long that many of us have come to take it for granted.

The rule of law is not self-executing.

It depends on our collective commitment to apply it.

It requires dedicated service on behalf of others, especially when that service is difficult and comes with costs.

Our willingness to pay those costs is what tests and defines our commitment to the rule of law and to this wonderful country.

And the way we see it, China is a great trading partner.

It means a lot of opportunities for us to expand markets.

So that is not any source of conflict.

President Trump was charged because the evidence established that he willfully broke the law, the very laws he took an oath to uphold.

Rather than accept his defeat in the 2020 election, President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results and prevent the lawful transfer of power.