Special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday filed a new indictment against Donald Trump over his efforts to undo the 2020 presidential election that keeps the same criminal charges but narrows the allegations against him following a Supreme Court opinion conferring broad immunity on former presidents.
The new indictment removes a section of the indictment that dealt with Trump's interactions with the Justice Department, an area of conduct for which the Supreme Court in a 6-3 opinion last month said Trump was entitled to immunity from prosecution. The court ruled on July 1 that Trump cannot be prosecuted for actions that were within his constitutional powers as president.
The new version of the indictment hinges on key testimony and evidence from witnesses largely outside the federal government, such as former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, whom the indictment says was pressured by Trump and a co-conspirator to call a special session to hold a hearing based on assertions of voter fraud.
Trump took to social media to rail against Smith's efforts to "resurrect a dead witch hunt."
"The illegally appointed 'Special Counsel' Deranged Jack Smith, has brought a ridiculous new Indictment against me, which has all the problems of the old Indictment, and should be dismissed immediately," Trump said in a post to Truth Social. "This is merely an attempt to interfere with the election, and distract the American People from the catastrophes Kamala Harris has inflicted on our Nation."
The updated criminal case no longer lists as a co-conspirator Jeffrey Clark, a Justice Department official who championed Trump’s false claims of election fraud. Trump’s co-conspirators were not named in either indictment, but they have been identified through public records and other means.
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 indictment retained the allegations that Trump attempted to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to certify the electoral vote count. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court that the interactions between Trump and Pence amounted to official conduct for which “Trump is at least presumptively immune from prosecution.”
The question, Roberts wrote, is whether the government can rebut “that presumption of immunity.”
This story has been updated.
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