The Daily Fuckup

By March 10, 2023, the Justice Department’s special counsel investigation into Donald Trump’s post-2020-election conduct was still moving. Jack Smith had been appointed special counsel on Nov. 18, 2022, and by early March his team was questioning witnesses and pursuing evidence tied to the effort to overturn the election and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. That was real investigative pressure. It was not, at that point, an indictment. ([justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/archives/sco-smith?utm_source=openai))

The public record on that date showed a probe with multiple tracks. Prosecutors were asking about the roles of Trump advisers and lawyers, including people connected to the false-elector effort and the push to challenge election results in the states and in Congress. Those steps suggested a wide-ranging criminal inquiry, but they did not establish charges or guilt, and they did not tell us how far prosecutors would ultimately go. ([washingtonpost.com](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/03/03/trump-documents-jan6-investigation-lawyers/?utm_source=openai))

That matters because March 10 sat in the middle of an investigation that was active, serious and still developing. Smith’s office had already demonstrated that it was gathering testimony and following leads, and the Justice Department had said it would continue to follow the facts and charge what the evidence supported. But as of that date, Trump had not been charged in connection with the election-overturning effort. The legal threat was real; the finish line had not yet been crossed. ([justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/statement-attorney-general-merrick-b-garland-investigation-january-6th-attack-capitol?utm_source=openai))