Special Counsel Files Revised Indictment in Trump Elections Case
WASHINGTON — Special counsel Jack Smith filed a superseding indictment in his effort to prosecute former President Donald Trump on charges he sought to unlawfully overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The 36-page filing in the D.C. federal court retains many of the same charges that were in the original 45-page indictment, but removes allegations related to Trump’s interactions with the Justice Department to comport with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last month on presidential immunity.
In its July 1 ruling in the case Trump v. United States, the high court held that at minimum, a president must be immune from prosecution for his official acts unless the government can show that applying a criminal prohibition to that act would pose no “dangers of intrusion on the authority and functions of the executive branch.”
Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the court majority, went on to say Trump could not face criminal charges related to any of his interactions with Justice Department officials because his interactions with the department were part of the official duties of his office.
As a result of that language, Smith removed all mention of Trump conspiring with former Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark, who sought to launch investigations into Trump’s rigged election claims, despite warnings from other high-level department officials that he should steer clear of the matter.
Even with the omitted material, Trump continues to face four charges related to allegedly engaging in multiple conspiracies to defraud the federal government, attempting to obstruct the certification of the 2020 election, and depriving U.S. citizens of their right to have their votes counted.
Trump has repeatedly asserted his innocence of all the charges and has dismissed the currently moribund prosecution as nothing more than a “witch hunt.”
The filing of the superseding indictment comes just days before prosecutors and Trump’s lawyers were supposed to provide U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan with their separate proposals of how to proceed with the case in light of the Supreme Court’s decision.
Among the first to respond to word of the court filing was National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Steve Daines, of Montana, who said in an email that he found it “disgraceful that Democrats are continuing to use legal warfare against President Trump to distract from the Biden-Harris record of open borders, rising prices and chaos around the world.”
“The American people decide elections, not partisan prosecutors. They will see through this shameful, partisan stunt and send President Trump back to the White House,” Daines said.
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue
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