KeynoteUSA —
Special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday filed a superseding indictment in the election interference case against former President Donald Trump, narrowing the charges against the 2024 presidential candidate in light of the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling.
Prosecutors have not dropped any of the four charges they initially filed against the former president. However, the newly amended indictment has redacted some of Trump’s alleged conduct, including allegations about attempts to use the Justice Department to promote his false claims of election fraud.
It also changes the way prosecutors describe the charges they continue to bring about Trump’s election subversion schemes.
“The superseding indictment, which was presented to a new grand jury that had not previously heard evidence in this case, reflects the Government’s efforts to respect and implement the Supreme Court’s rulings and remand instructions in Trump v. United States,” the special counsel’s office said.
The new indictment shifts the question of Trump’s attempt to steal the 2020 election into the critical final months of the 2024 campaign. For much of this year, the former president’s legal and political narratives coalesced around his claims that he was the victim of a Biden administration conspiracy to weaponize the justice system against him.
But the success of Trump’s legal team in using the appeals process to delay most of his lawsuits (or, in the case of charges related to his mishandling of classified documents, get them dismissed entirely) and the transformation of the race under the new Democratic vice presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, have recently overshadowed the former president’s legal troubles.
Smith’s determination to salvage his case after the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling underscores Trump’s enormous personal interest in winning in November and regaining the executive authority that would allow him to end federal proceedings against him.
According to a source familiar with the case, Trump’s defense team had hoped that such a rewording of the indictment would set up the next phase of the case following the high court’s ruling. A hearing on the case had already been scheduled in Judge Tanya Chutkan’s courtroom for next Thursday. But the filing of the superseding indictment so soon came as a surprise.
In the revised indictment, prosecutors repeatedly argue that Trump had no constitutionally assigned presidential duty with respect to the post-election transition of power.
They did so to highlight how the new accusation is consistent with the Supreme Court’s ruling, which granted immunity for some of Trump’s conduct that falls within his official powers.
Importantly, the superseding indictment removes language about the former president’s interactions with senior Justice Department officials and adds language describing when Trump was acting as a candidate rather than as president.
“The defendant had no official responsibilities related to the certification process, but did have a personal interest as a candidate in being named the winner of the election,” the superseding indictment says, in a line that was not in the original indictment.
In several cases, prosecutors repeatedly added language describing Trump as a “candidate” and descriptions of his alleged co-conspirators as individuals who were not “government officials during the conspiracies” and were instead “acting in their private capacities.”
In another section, the special counsel’s office described a lawsuit the Trump campaign filed over the results in Georgia, which it narrowly lost. The old indictment said the lawsuit was “filed on his behalf,” but the amended indictment says it was “filed in his capacity as a candidate for president.”
Smith’s team also emphasized its claim that then-Vice President Mike Pence was acting in a “ceremonial role” as president of the Senate when he presided over the Electoral College certification proceedings on Jan. 6, 2021. The distinction is important because prosecutors argue that Trump’s pressure campaign on Pence was outside the scope of his official duties.
Additionally, prosecutors removed references to co-conspirator 4. KeynoteUSA identified that person as then-Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, who allegedly tried to use his position to help Trump in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
KeynoteUSA’s Holmes Lybrand and Casey Gannon contributed to this report.
This story has been updated with additional details.
Keynote USA
For the Latest News, Follow KeynoteUSA on Twitter Or Google News.
:quality(85)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/GHXBC4FGB5FZNK73YV52IYNCVM.png?w=150&resize=150,150&ssl=1 "Piura: Medical student found dead after disappearing several days ago in strange circumstances")
