US Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith has filed additional charges against former President Donald Trump for allegedly attempting to interfere in the 2020 election after he lost to Joe Biden.
The new indictment adjusts the charges against Trump in light of the US Supreme Court’s recent ruling that the president is immune from prosecution for certain acts committed while in office.
The amended indictment retains four criminal counts against Trump, but removes some descriptions of his alleged conduct.
Trump has denied allegations of election interference, although he has continued to assert — without providing evidence — that there was widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.
The new indictment retains the four counts Trump was charged with — conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, attempted obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to commit civil rights violations.
Trump had previously pleaded not guilty to all charges.
But the charging document — shortened from 45 to 36 pages — redacts the language of the charges and tweaks the way the former president allegedly committed these crimes to fit the Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.
For example, the new indictment dismissed claims that Trump tried to pressure Justice Department officials to overturn his defeat. The Supreme Court ruled that Trump’s direction to Justice Department officials was not illegal.
The special counsel’s office explained its reasoning for the new indictment in a statement on Tuesday.
“The superseding indictment, presented to a new jury that has not heard evidence in this case, reflects the Government’s efforts to respect and implement the Supreme Court’s ruling and detention guidelines in Trump v. United States,” the office said.
The new indictment argues that Trump acted as a private citizen — not as president — when he carried out the alleged plot to influence the election.
“The defendant had no official responsibility in connection with the certification process, but the defendant had a personal interest as a candidate in being elected as the winner of the election,” a new line in the indictment reads.
Another new line refers to a lawsuit filed by his campaign in Georgia. The old language said the lawsuit was “filed in his name,” but the new indictment says it was “filed as a candidate for president.”
The new indictment also appears to have dropped charges against Jeffrey Clark — a former Justice Department official who prosecutors said played a key role in the so-called voter fraud scheme.
The fake voter scheme was an attempt to interfere with the Electoral College system that decides presidential elections. It focused on trying to convince Republican-controlled state legislatures in seven states to choose Republican electors or not name any electors in states that Mr. Biden won.
The forged certificates were then sent to the US Senate in an attempt to count votes on behalf of real electors and overturn Mr Biden’s victory.
Mr. Clark is not named in either indictment, but has been identified by media outlets through public records.
The new indictment retains several key allegations against Trump, including that he tried to persuade Vice President Mike Pence to obstruct the certification of Biden’s election victory.
In a Supreme Court ruling last month, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that any conversation between Trump and Mr Pence would likely fall into the category of official conduct.
“At the very least, Trump is presumed to be immune from prosecution,” he wrote, adding that it remains unclear whether the government can rebut “that presumption of immunity.”
Mr. Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 to oversee two federal investigations into Trump: election interference and another into allegations that the former president took classified documents to his Florida home after leaving office.
On Monday, Mr. Smith’s team appealed a Florida judge’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit involving classified documents.
“The district court departed from binding Supreme Court precedent, misinterpreted the statutes authorizing the appointment of special counsels, and failed to take into account the long history of attorneys general appointing special counsels,” the special counsel team wrote in its appeal.
Both cases have uncertain futures following landmark Supreme Court rulings last month.
It is highly unlikely that either case will go to trial before the presidential election in November.
If Trump wins against Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, he will likely order the Justice Department to drop all federal charges he is facing.
This is the latest news in development. Please check back for updates.
