Special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday filed a new indictment against Donald Trump over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, maintaining the same criminal charges but narrowing the charges against him after a Supreme Court opinion granted broad immunity to former presidents.
The new indictment strikes from the indictment a section that addressed Trump’s interactions with the Justice Department — conduct for which Trump enjoys absolute immunity, according to the Supreme Court’s opinion last month.
The updated criminal case no longer includes as a co-defendant Jeffrey Clark, a Justice Department official who defended Trump’s false claims of election fraud. Trump’s co-defendants were not named in any of the indictments but have been identified through public records and other means.
The special prosecutor’s office said the updated indictment, filed in federal court in Washington, was issued by a grand jury that had not previously heard the evidence in the case.
The complaint maintains allegations that Trump tried to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to ratify the vote count.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said the interactions between Trump and Pence were official conduct for which Trump should enjoy immunity from prosecution.
The question, Roberts wrote, is whether the government can rebut “that presumption of immunity.”
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