Welcome to the beat. I'm Ari Melba. Our top story is the new release of this literal final chapter

in the special counsel, Jack Smith's January 6th coup probe. Smith's 137 page report released today on the

quote, efforts to interfere with the lawful transfer of power following that 2020 election.

This Smith report follows the precedent of the Mueller report,

a major legal document which recounts a crime spree by Trump allies who faced a legal reckoning.

Like that report, this new one matters today. In contrast to that report, however, the Smith

report comes after Donald Trump's recent re-election,

and there are legal rules ending the prosecution that the former defendant Trump faced.

So we begin right there on that point.

The most striking assertion in this brand new report, which came in the conclusion as the final sentence of this new Smith report today is the formal

statement that Smith had enough evidence to convict Trump at trial. That is a key takeaway,

and I'm going to go through several takeaways with you right now. We encourage you to read

excerpts or the whole report, but right now I've got the key

parts. The report refers to the rule against prosecuting a sitting president. Everyone knew that would

kick in if the defendant, Donald Trump, won. And so the report states, but for Mr. Trump's

election, the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain a conviction at trial.

A striking conclusion from respected prosecutor backed by the DOJ. It reinforces just how close

Trump came to that trial, which may have led to conviction. While as always, we

responsibly note that as a defendant, Trump, the former defendant,

was legally presumed innocent.

Smith made precedent with the first federal indictment of an ex-president.

Today, he stands by it with a new precedent about that now former defendant turned

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