Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 Brief – Six Takeaways from Jewish Sources

Here are some passages from Jack Smith’s January 6 brief, as seen through the prism of Jewish sources. Let me be clear that I am not endorsing any candidate. I am simply building a response to Donald Trump’s oft-repeated accusations that Jews who don’t vote for him “should have their head examined.” I don’t believe I need to have my head examined. On the contrary, rejecting Trump and Trumpism, in my mind, is the most authentically Jewish thing my head – and the rest of me – can do.
These are intended to be conversation starters, as well as an invitation to read the entire Jan. 6 brief. Don’t be intimidated from reading it. Smith intentionally composed it in layperson’s English, not in legalese. It serves as a helpful summary of the greatest crime ever perpetrated on American democracy. Whether or not the case ever goes to to trial, this brief stands as part of the historical record, and its release now allows it to reach us at a time when the American people can see its damning facts before they vote.
For those (eg, Trump) complaining that it’s “unfair” to release this material just weeks before the election, I’d respond with the words of JD Vance: “It’s really rich!” The fact is that the 2020 Crime against Democracy is still an election issue today. It’s like the guy who has murdered his parents claiming leniency before the judge on account of the fact that he’s an orphan.
So let’s cover some of the key passages from the brief, focusing on the sections where the crime is laid out, as opposed to those sections devoted to the Supreme Court ruling, in which Smith argues that these were not official Presidential duties.
1. Trump employs deceit at every stage of the electoral process (p.4)
2. He tells people that he was planning a false declaration of victory ahead of the final vote tally (p.5), which is precisely what he did.

- Trump tries to sow chaos and confusion – even rioting – to upset the count (p.8)
***Rioting has always been especially dangerous for Jews, manufactured, manipulative chaos all the more. We’ve seen how, inevitably, when protesters turn violent, Jews almost invariably become targets. Using violence and sowing chaos to achieve aims (especially fraudulent ones) are beyond irresponsible. Just as a reminder, here is a partial listing of anti-Jewish riots that have taken place in history.
- Trump cruelly and deliberately upends the lives of Georgian poll workers (p.22).
Of all the innocent people whose lives have been ruined by Trump’s callous disregard for decency and lack of basic human empathy, Freeman and Moss at least found some justice in the end, being awarded a hefty sum from Giuliani. Naboth was not so lucky, but that’s because he didn’t live in a republic, and we do – if we can keep it. Were he alive in a Trumpian 2025, his vineyard would surely be appropriated as a new Trump golf course. If Trump wins the next election, we’ll all be toiling in Naboth’s vineyard. Of all the commandments Trump has broken, the one about bearing false witness seems to be his “go-to” sin. He breaks that one almost every time he opens his mouth. And it’s a big deal in Jewish law. Fully eight of the 613 mitzvot enumerated by Maimonides revolve around bearing false witness. And Maimonides never even heard about Springfield, Ohio.
- Trump and his accomplices tried to hide their crimes (p.59)
We can see from Isaiah 59:2 that the same Hebrew word used for secrecy in sinning, “s-t-r,” also connotes secrecy from God – with the hiding of God’s face, God’s grace, from the sinner.
Jaffe writes:
The Torah is giving us the message that – yes – it’s wrong to transgress but it’s much worse to do it in secret. Secrecy carries with it: shame and fear. I think that there is more we can learn from this. In our own lives, secrets and secrecy can be a tremendous burden. Hiding our secrets can be exhausting.
Evidently not if you are Donald Trump and his accomplices.
- The incitement at the Ellipse (pp 74-5)
But unlike Eliezer and Korach, Trump didn’t put his own life on the line. He convinced his people to march to the Capitol and said he would be there with him, but he didn’t go. He was both a demagogic liar and a coward.