A new federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment against former President Donald Trump—charging him with the same four criminal counts related to his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, despite a recent Supreme Court ruling which found that presidents have some immunity from prosecution.
Special Counsel Jack Smith returned the new indictment on Tuesday. The revised charges come only days before the deadline D.C. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan set for both prosecutors and Trump’s defense attorneys to submit reports on how the July Supreme Court decision would impact the case. The next status conference is currently scheduled for Sept. 5.
Earlier this month, Chutkan rejected a motion from Trump’s defense attorneys to fully dismiss the case.
A new grand jury, who had not previously reviewed the evidence against the former president, charged Trump with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights—the exact same charges listed in the original indictment handed down in August 2023.
According to a notice filed by Smith on Tuesday, the new indictment “reflects the Government’s efforts to respect and implement the Supreme Court’s holdings and remand instructions in Trump v. United States.”
In July, the conservative justices on the high court ruled that former presidents have “absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority,” as well as “at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts.”
The same ruling said that presidents do not have any immunity for “unofficial acts” taken while in office.
The original grand jury indictment was filed last August and included significantly more details about Trump’s alleged conspiracy to overturn the election.
The original 45-page document was reduced down to 36 pages, removing several large pieces of evidence against the former president, primarily an entire section that outlined Trump’s attempts to “leverage the Justice Department” to question the election results. This included allegedly telling the acting Attorney General to “just say that the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen.”
The original section also outlined a long scheme to get the acting Attorney General and acting Assistant Attorney General to sign on to a letter endorsing a plan to force Georgia and other states to submit false slates of electors. The Justice Department officials ultimately did not sign on to the plan.
It also removed some references to the private phone calls Trump made to former Vice President Mike Pence, in which he allegedly “berated” the VP and pressured him to sign on to a plan to decertify the electoral college votes and overturn the results. However, the new indictment still accuses the former president of trying to “enlist” Pence into his scheme without that particular evidence.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
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