Federal prosecutors have filed a new indictment in the January 6 case against former President Donald Trump, after the Supreme Court granted the 2024 Republican nominee substantial immunity.
A spokesman for Special Counsel Jack Smith said the superseding indictment, which was presented to a new grand jury, one that had not previously heard evidence in the J6 case, "reflects the Government's efforts to respect and implement the Supreme Court’s holdings and remand instructions," according to the court filing Tuesday afternoon.
BREAKING: A grand jury has returned a superseding indictment against Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. retaining the same four core charges against him for trying to subvert the election. pic.twitter.com/qkbZAjSeSl
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 27, 2024
Trump is charged with the same criminal offenses as he was in the original indictment. But the new indictment, according to prosecutors, reflects "the Government's efforts to respect and implement the Supreme Court's remand instructions" in the presidential immunity decision. pic.twitter.com/a1I1cydm0m
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) August 27, 2024
Smith has reportedly been consulting with other officials within the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for weeks about the Trump case.
Now, the allegations against Trump are slimmed down in light of the Supreme Court's immunity ruling. The prosecution has not dropped any of the four charges that they initially brought against Trump, as he's charged with the same supposed offenses. However, the current indictment carves out some of Trump's alleged conduct.
Several claims were changed. POLITICO senior legal affairs reporter Kyle Cheney noted the biggest change:
MORE: The biggest change appears to be that Jeff Clark, coconspirator 4, and the details about Trump's effort to commandeer DOJ in support of his effort, have been removed: https://t.co/7Ean61MeNT pic.twitter.com/tRDQxvz5iu
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 27, 2024
Other analysts highlighted the discernible differences between the new indictment and the original:
A superseding indictment replaces the original indictment. Often, prosecutors supersede an indictment in order to add new charges. Here, Jack Smith sought a superseding indictment not to add charges but rather to change the substance of the facts alleged. https://t.co/1PxZxEq1IA
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) August 27, 2024
Read the full 36-page filing here.
In July, with Justice Clarence Thomas leading the way, the Supreme Court sided with Trump, ruling that the former president has absolute immunity from prosecution for "core" acts only, i.e. actions that are "core" to his official duties.
At this rate, there's no chance the election interference case will be tried ahead of the presidential election in November.
Legal experts are weighing in on the latest development.
Georgia State University constitutional law professor Anthony Michael Kreis commented: "The superseding indictment is the Special Counsel's attempt to adhere to the Supreme Court's presidential immunity decision without showing the prosecution's cards in an evidentiary hearing a/k/a a mini trial. Jack Smith is working to preserve his case and move expeditiously."
"The Special Counsel's superseding indictment disproportionately relies on Trump's actions in Georgia for evidence of unlawful conspiracies as conduct that falls outside the scope of presidential immunity, emphasizing his status as a candidate," Kreis added.
Lawfare senior editor Anna Bower said, "The superseding indictment returned today in Washington reflects an effort by prosecutors to remove portions of the original indictment that would be immune from prosecution under the Supreme Court's presidential immunity ruling."
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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