Donald Trump faced a revised federal indictment, accusing him of attempting to illegally overturn his 2020 election loss. This updated indictment follows a US Supreme Court ruling that former presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution.
US Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team secured the superseding indictment in Washington, though it’s unlikely to go to trial before the November 5 election, where Republican Trump will face Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
The revised indictment maintains the four charges previously brought against Trump but now emphasizes his role as a political candidate seeking reelection, rather than as the sitting president. On July 1, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump is generally immune from prosecution for actions within his constitutional powers as president.
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington is expected to rule soon on which parts of the case may be dismissed based on the Supreme Court’s decision. Trump’s legal team has not yet responded to the indictment.
Trump, in a statement on his Truth Social platform, argued that the Supreme Court’s ruling should lead to the entire case being dismissed, accusing Smith of reworking the case to bypass the ruling.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to the original charges, denouncing the case and others against him as politically motivated efforts to block his return to power. Opinion polls have shown Harris gaining a slight national lead over Trump since Democratic President Joe Biden announced he would not seek reelection.
This revised indictment, like the original, accuses Trump of conspiring to block the certification of his election defeat to Biden. It retains claims that Trump pressured then-Vice President Mike Pence to use his role in the January 6, 2021, congressional certification of the election to reject electoral votes from key battleground states Trump lost.
“The defendant had no official responsibilities related to the certification proceeding, but he did have a personal interest as a candidate in being named the winner of the election,” the revised indictment states, language absent from the original document.
A mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6 to stop the congressional certification, a key part of the case against Trump.
The revised indictment no longer includes allegations that Trump pressured the U.S. Justice Department to overturn the election results, likely a move to keep the prosecution viable after the Supreme Court ruled Trump could not be prosecuted for that conduct.
References to Jeffrey Clark, a senior Justice Department official under Trump who allegedly tried to help Trump undermine the election results, and former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, who reportedly told Trump his claims of widespread voter fraud were false, have also been removed.
National security attorney Bradley Moss noted that the revised indictment shows “a clear effort by the Justice Department to narrow the scope of factual information” in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling on immunity.
The 36-page revised indictment is nine pages shorter than the original and relies heavily on testimony and evidence from witnesses outside the federal government, such as former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, who was allegedly pressured by Trump and a co-conspirator to call a special session based on false claims of voter fraud.
This case, one of four criminal prosecutions Trump has faced, was delayed for months as Trump pursued his immunity claim. The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision, driven by a conservative majority including three justices nominated by Trump, has shaped the course of the case.
In May, Trump was convicted by a New York jury of falsifying documents to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star. He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 18, although he has requested a delay until after the November 5 election.
Smith’s latest move comes just ahead of a Friday deadline for his office and Trump’s lawyers to propose a path forward in the election subversion case following the Supreme Court’s ruling on immunity.
I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.
