Washington | Jack Smith, the special counsel who indicted Donald Trump on charges of seeking to cling to power after losing the 2020 election, said in a final report released early on Tuesday that he believed the evidence was sufficient to convict the president-elect in a trial if his success in the 2024 election had not made it impossible for the prosecution to continue.

“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,” Mr Smith wrote.