U.S. Special Prosecutor's Office said, "Trump's attempt to overturn presidential election is a private act... No immunity."

A U.S. federal special prosecutor's team has called former President Donald Trump's attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election a private act that cannot be subject to criminal immunity.

Special counsel Jack Smith's team said in a court filing that Trump was a sitting president during the attempt to overturn the presidential election, but his ruse was fundamentally private.

He also pointed out that Trump acted as a presidential candidate when he sought multiple criminal means of disrupting the government's function of gathering and counting voting results through fraud and deception.

The special counsel also said the defendant relied on crimes to remain in power when he lost the 2020 presidential election, including convincing Pence to refuse to certify the vote tally.

The court papers by the special counsel team are in response to the Supreme Court's decision to recognize broad immunity from public conduct while the former president is in office.