The special counsel, Jack Smith, led the charge in obtaining the superseding indictment in Washington. Despite the heightened attention, the case is unlikely to reach the courtroom before the November 5th election, where Trump, the Republican frontrunner, is set to face off against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
This revised indictment mirrors the four charges initially brought against Trump last year but shifts the focus to his role as a political candidate rather than his actions as the sitting president. This change comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s July 1 decision, which asserted that Trump is generally protected from prosecution for acts carried out within his constitutional powers as president.
Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court in Washington is expected to determine in the coming weeks which elements of the case might be dismissed based on this immunity ruling. Trump’s legal team has yet to comment on the new charges.
Trump, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing, took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to argue that the Supreme Court’s ruling should result in the dismissal of the entire case. He accused Special Counsel Smith of attempting to bypass the high court’s decision by reworking the indictment.
While Trump has pleaded not guilty to the original charges, decrying them as politically motivated attacks aimed at derailing his bid for the presidency, polls indicate that Vice President Harris has gained a slight lead over him since President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election.
The charges against Trump center around allegations of a conspiracy to obstruct the certification of his election loss to Biden. The revised indictment still includes claims that Trump pressured then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject electoral votes from key battleground states during the January 6, 2021, certification process—a day that saw a mob of Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol.
Notably, the updated indictment no longer mentions Trump’s alleged attempts to pressure the Justice Department, a move likely designed to keep the prosecution intact after the Supreme Court’s ruling. This change also led to the exclusion of certain individuals, such as Jeffrey Clark, a senior official in Trump’s Justice Department, and former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, from being named as co-conspirators.
Bradley Moss, an attorney specializing in national security, noted that the revised indictment demonstrates the Justice Department’s attempt to adjust to the Supreme Court’s ruling on immunity, narrowing the scope of the charges to focus on testimony and evidence from witnesses outside the federal government.
As the legal battle continues, Trump’s legal woes are further complicated by his recent conviction in New York for falsifying documents related to a hush money payment, with sentencing set for September 18. This latest move by Special Counsel Smith, coming just before a critical deadline, underscores the ongoing legal challenges Trump faces as he attempts to reclaim the presidency.
