Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the Israeli American Council National Summit 2024 on Sept. 19. Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post

Special counsel Jack Smith laid out new evidence to support his assertion that Donald Trump’s efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 election were taken as a private candidate, rather than his official capacity as the president, in a much-anticipated 165-page filing unsealed Wednesday that detailed Trump’s private interactions with his vice president and others.

The filing described what the then-president told key figures in his orbit, including vice president Mike Pence, attorney Rudy Giuliani and senior White House and Republican Party officials, though it shielded some of their names. It also detailed what Trump was doing on Jan. 6, as his supporters stormed the Capitol, describing a scene in which he expressed ambivalence after an aide rushed to the dining room to share that action was being taken to ensure Pence’s safety.

“The defendant looked at him and said only, ‘So what?’”” the filing alleges.

The filing is a key part of the special counsel’s attempt to show that Trump can still face trial for attempting to overturn Joe Biden’s electoral victory after the Supreme Court ruled he was immune from prosecution for official acts. It outlined in more extensive detail than before how many people – including the vice president, party and state leaders, his own campaign officials, his own campaign lawyers and others – told Trump there was no proof the election was stolen.

The filing provides the most exhaustive account yet of Pence’s conversations with Trump, alleging that the vice president repeatedly tried to encourage Trump to back off his claims of a stolen election. It alleges that one of Trump’s lawyers repeatedly told Trump they could not substantiate any of his claims, nor outside consultants they hired.

The lawyer told Trump the claims were “bulls–––,” and that he would lose in court, the document alleges.

In a written statement, Trump 2024 campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said, “The release of the falsehood-ridden, Unconstitutional J6 brief immediately following Tim Walz’s disastrous debate performance is another obvious attempt by the Harris-Biden regime to undermine American Democracy and interfere in this election.”

Cheung continued, “Deranged Jack Smith and Washington DC Radical Democrats are hellbent on weaponizing the Justice Department in an attempt to cling to power … This entire case is a partisan, Unconstitutional Witch Hunt that should be dismissed entirely, together with ALL of the remaining Democrat hoaxes.”

The document alleges that Trump and some of those around him were unwilling to listen to anyone who contradicted their view that the election was stolen, sometimes lashing out at those who disagreed. It notes Trump’s public campaign to pressure governors and state officials, pointing to his posts on twitter, now X.

But it also highlights internal efforts to stifle dissent. According to the document, when Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani found out that Justin Riemer, then RNC chief counsel, had sent an email urging colleagues not to back claims of a stolen election, he left Riemer a threatening voicemail.

“I really do need an explanation for what you said today because if there isn’t a good one, you should resign. Got it? So call me or I’ll call the boss and get you to resign. Call me. It’d be better for you if you do,” Giuliani said, according to the document.

Riemer was then put on a leave of absence, but later returned after the election, the document alleges.

The document does not explicitly allege that Trump knew he lost the election. But it offers a striking moment indicating he was ambivalent toward the truth, alleging that a White House staffer overheard him telling family members, “it doesn’t matter if you won or lost the election. You still have to fight like hell.”

The document lays out in striking detail Trump’s interactions with officials in key states, including Georgia, Michigan and Arizona, and how he attempted to strong-arm them into overturning the election. At one point, according to the document, Trump asked then RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel to promote a report about fraud in the state, and she declined, saying that top state officials described the report as “f–––king nuts.”

The document alleges that Trump also pressed Republican Gov. Doug Ducey over the election results, in a phone call, but never provided the evidence he promised to send about fraud in the state.

Prosecutors painted a vivid portrait of how Trump refused to issue a public statement to calm supporters as they breached the Capitol, until all his aides eventually left him alone in the White House dining room where a television was tuned to Fox News.

“It was at that point alone watching news in real time and with knowledge that rioters had breached the Capitol building that the defendant issued the 2:24 p.m. Tweet attacking Pence for refusing the defendant’s entreaties to join the conspiracy and help overturn the results of the election,” prosecutors wrote. “One minute later the Secret Service was forced to evacuate Pence to a secure location in the Capitol.”