Special Counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday filed another indictment against former President Trump over his alleged efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election, revising the charges in an effort to navigate a recent Supreme Court ruling that gave former presidents immunity for official acts.
The new indictment keeps the prior criminal charges but narrows and reframes the allegations against the Republican presidential nominee after a Supreme Court ruling that conferred broad immunity on former presidents.
Specifically, the indictment has been changed to remove allegations involving Department of Justice officials and other government officials. It clarifies Trump’s role as candidate, and makes clear the allegations regarding his conversations with then-Vice President Mike Pence in his ceremonial role as president of the Senate.
TRUMP IMMUNITY CASE: SUPREME COURT RULES EX-PRESIDENTS HAVE SUBSTANTIAL PROTECTION FROM PROSECUTION
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Desert Diamond Arena, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The new indictment removes a section of the previous indictment that had accused Trump of trying to wield the Justice Department to undo his 2020 loss. The Supreme Court recently ruled in a 6-3 decision that Trump was immune from prosecution for official White House acts.
Trump has been charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Those charges, to which Trump pleaded not guilty, remain. Smith alleges that Trump participated in an effort to enlist slates of fake electors in key states won by then-candidate Biden to attest that Trump had in fact won, and that he pressured Pence to reject legitimate electoral votes.
The stripped-down criminal case was filed three days ahead of a deadline for Smith’s office to tell the judge in the case how they wanted to proceed after the Court’s decision. It comes ahead of a status hearing next week in court before U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.
The special counsel’s office said the updated indictment, filed in federal court in Washington, was issued by a grand jury that had not previously heard evidence in the case. The new grand jury has only heard this new information.
The original indictment detailed how Jeffrey Clark, a top official in Trump’s DOJ, wanted to send a letter to elected officials in certain states claiming that the DOJ had supposedly “identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election” and had asked top department officials to sign it, but they refused.
TRUMP WARNS THAT IF HE LOSES PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY, SO WILL ‘CROOKED’ JOE BIDEN
FILE: Special Counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks on a recently unsealed indictment including four felony counts against former U.S. President Donald Trump at the Justice Department on August 1, 2023 in Washington, DC. Trump was indicted on four felony counts for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Clark’s support for Trump’s election fraud claims led Trump to openly contemplate naming him as acting attorney general in place of Jeffrey Rosen. The original indictment said Trump backed out of the plans “when he was told it would result in mass resignations at the Justice Department.” Rosen remained on as acting attorney general through the end of the administration.
The new case no longer references Clark as a co-conspirator. Trump’s co-conspirators were not named in either indictment, but they have been identified through public records and other means.
The new indictment returned other allegations in the case, including that Trump sought to badger Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to certify the electoral vote count, to Judge Chutkan to determine what constitutes an official act and what does not.
On Tuesday, Trump railed against the new indictment, writing on Truth Social that “No Presidential Candidate, or Candidate for any Office, has ever had to put up with all of this Lawfare and Weaponization directly out of the Office of a Political Opponent.”
“They’ve Weaponized local D.A.s and Attorney Generals, and anybody else that will listen, to Interfere with the upcoming 2024 Presidential Election – Never been done before,” Trump said, before turning his aim toward his Democratic opponent in the 2024 presidential election. “This is now Kamala’s [Harris’] Weaponized System against her Political Opponent. All of these Scams will fail, just as Deranged Jack’s Hoax in Florida has been fully dismissed, and we will win the Most Important Election in the History of our Country on November 5th. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
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Sources familiar with the matter tell Fox News that discussions surrounding the superseding indictment will likely not speed things up, and it is unlikely it will go to trial before the November election.
Fox News’ David Spunt, Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
