Special Counsel Smith Unveils Fresh Indictment in Trump’s January 6 Saga

WASHINGTON — In response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity, U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed a new federal indictment against former President Donald Trump. The indictment alleges that Trump attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election to secure victory for himself.

Smith’s superseding indictment, submitted on Tuesday afternoon, marks a significant shift as it omits specific allegations regarding Trump’s pressure on Department of Justice officials to alter election outcomes. This amendment follows the Supreme Court’s decision that while presidents are immune from criminal charges related to their official duties, they are vulnerable for unofficial actions.

The Supreme Court redirected the case back to the federal trial court level for further proceedings. Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan granted Smith an extension to evaluate how this ruling might affect the ongoing election subversion case. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for September 5.

In the updated indictment, Smith excluded considerable details present in the original document, particularly those concerning Trump’s communications with former DOJ officials connected to his alleged plan to overturn the election. The earlier indictment described a campaign where Trump urged these officials to send misleading letters to state election authorities regarding imagined investigations into the election results.

The revised indictment also highlights Trump’s absence of formal authority regarding the states’ certification processes. Smith explicitly stated, “The defendant had no official responsibilities related to any state’s certification of the election results.” He further noted Trump had no role in convening legitimate electors or managing their voting process.

The crux of the charges revolves around Trump’s purported conspiracies with private attorneys and state election officials to create and present false elector slates to Vice President Mike Pence and Congress during the certification on January 6, 2021. The states implicated include Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Both the original and new indictments accuse Trump of disseminating false information about the election results via his Twitter account in the lead-up to January 6. The latest indictment clarifies that while Trump occasionally used Twitter for official communications, he often employed it for personal objectives, including spreading false claims of election fraud and rallying his supporters to gather in Washington, D.C., on January 6.

Smith characterized Trump’s speech before supporters on January 6 at the Ellipse as a “campaign speech at a privately-funded, privately-organized political rally held on the Ellipse.” The felony charges against Trump remain intact, continuing to include conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, attempts to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.