'Should not even matter’: Trump says Jan. 6 actions irrelevant as he 'was not campaigning'

Former President Donald Trump argued Monday it shouldn’t matter if he committed criminal acts to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power because he wasn’t on the campaign trail at the time.

Trump took to Truth Social to bemoan special counsel Jack Smith’s weekend filing challenging his presidential immunity claim in the Washington, D.C. election interference case.

“The filing by special counsel, (Deranged) Jack Smith, was the latest in a fight over WHETHER FORMER PRESIDENTS CAN BE HELD CRIMINALLY LIABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS IN OFFICE,” Trump wrote.

"First of all, I did nothing wrong, and while it should not even matter, I was not campaigning —The 2020 Election was LONG OVER," he said.

"What I was doing is bringing to light the fact that the Election was, without question, Rigged and Stolen. As President, and Commander-in-Chief, it was my duty to do so! If I did not do this, I would have been in violation of my Oath of Office

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Smith’s legal team disagreed in an 82-page filing to the appeals court Saturday, in which they argue nothing in the U.S. Constitution protects former presidents from the federal justice system.

“The defendant’s sweeping immunity claim threatens to license presidents to commit crimes to remain in office,” argued Smith’s deputy James Pearce.

"The founders did not intend and would never have countenanced such a result.”

The decision about the immunity claim rests with the D.C. District Court, slated to hear arguments on Jan. 9, after Trump appealed Judge Tanya Chutkan’s ruling that he was not protected under presidential immunity.

Smith tried to fast-track the debate to the Supreme Court, but the justices turned down his request.

Delay tactics from Trump’s legal team are at the heart of the case because they could potentially push the court date past the November 2024 presidential election.

If Trump returns to the White House, he would potentially be able to have the charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty, dropped.

In a follow-up post, Trump doubled down on the election interference claims and hurled accusations at Democrats he has blamed for court proceedings he’s dubbed a political witch hunt.

The rant presents a challenge of interpretation as Trump abandons verbs halfway through his 535-word sentence.

“They spied on my Campaign, started the Fake Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, Lied to Congress, Abused FISA, Stuffed Ballot Boxes, Misused 51 Intelligence Agents, Illegal FBI/Twitter Files, Facebook Lock Boxes, Never Got State Legislatures to approve Election Changes, Harassed Election Observers, and much more….”

The New Year’s Day message ends with a reminder.

“REMEMBER, Crooked Joe Biden and his CORRUPT JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, D.A.’s and A.G.’s, has attacked his Political Opponent at a level never seen before in this Country,” said Trump.

“He is playing a very dangerous game, and the great people of America WILL NOT STAND FOR IT.”