Special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday filed a superseding indictment in the election interference case against former US President Donald Trump, streamlining the allegations against the 2024 presidential candidate in response to the Supreme Court’s recent immunity ruling, CNN reported.
The original four charges against Trump have not been dropped, but the revised indictment omits some of the initial accusations, such as those concerning attempts to use the Justice Department to support his false claims of election fraud.
“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 holdings and remand instructions in Trump v. United States,” stated the special counsel’s office.
Smith’s effort to revise his case follows the Supreme Court’s ruling from July that former presidents have broad immunity.
According to a source familiar with the situation, Trump’s defense team anticipated a rewritten indictment like this to pave the way for the next phase of the case after the high court’s decision. A hearing in Judge Tanya Chutkan’s courtroom had already been scheduled for next Thursday, but the quick turnaround of the superseding indictment came as a surprise, according to CNN.
In the updated indictment, prosecutors emphasize several times that Trump did not have any constitutionally assigned presidential duties regarding the post-election transition of power. This was done to align the new charges with the Supreme Court ruling, which granted immunity for some of Trump’s actions within his official powers.
“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 superseding indictment states, adding a new line not found in the original indictment.
Another revision involves a lawsuit filed by Trump’s campaign concerning the election results in Georgia. The original indictment mentioned that the lawsuit was “filed in his name,” while the new indictment clarifies that it was “filed in his capacity as a candidate for President.”
Trump was indicted by Smith on four felony counts last year.
The four counts with which Trump had been charged are: A conspiracy to defraud the United States "by using dishonesty, fraud and deceit to obstruct the nation’s process of collecting, counting, and certifying the results of the presidential election"; a conspiracy to impede the Jan. 6 congressional proceeding at which the collected results of the presidential election are counted and certified; a conspiracy against the right to vote and to have that vote counted; obstruction of, and attempt to obstruct and impede, the certification of the electoral vote.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges.