Prosecutors on Tuesday filed an amended indictment against Donald Trump, accusing him of trying to overturn the 2020 US election after he lost to Joe Biden.
The new indictment retains the same four charges against Trump as in the earlier version, but also takes into account a recent Supreme Court ruling that gives former presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution.
The new indictment against the 78-year-old Republican White House nominee is 36 pages long, down from the previous 45, and removes material affected by the conservative-dominated top court’s immunity ruling.
It retains the same gist, saying Trump lost in 2020 but was “determined to remain in power” and attempted to overturn the results.
The Supreme Court ruled in July that former presidents enjoy broad immunity from prosecution for official acts taken while in office, but can be prosecuted for unofficial actions.
This cast doubt on the historic prosecution against the former president.
Trump called the new indictment a “desperate action” that was part of a “spying campaign” against him.
“Illegally appointed ‘special counsel’ deranged Jack Smith has brought a ridiculous new indictment against me that has all the problems of the old indictment, and must be dismissed immediately,” he wrote on his Truth social platform.
The new indictment comes three days before special counsel Jack Smith, who brought the charges against Trump, and the former president’s lawyers are due to file a schedule for pretrial proceedings.
Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over the case, had also scheduled a status hearing in Washington for Sept. 5, and it was not immediately clear whether that would take place now that charges have been filed.
Trump’s lawyers are seeking to postpone the trial between Trump and the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, until after the November election.
Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding – on January 6, 2021, a joint session of Congress was attacked by Trump supporters.
Trump is also accused of attempting to disenfranchise American voters by falsely claiming he won the 2020 election.
He was initially scheduled to go on trial on March 4, but it was postponed after his lawyers took his claim of presidential immunity to the Supreme Court.
‘Private Capacity’
Chutkan, appointed by former Democratic President Barack Obama, will be tasked with deciding which of Trump’s actions in connection with the 2020 election were official and which were unofficial, which could lead to possible prosecution.
That and other pretrial issues are likely to take months, making it unlikely the case will be heard before the Nov. 5 presidential election.
The new indictment removes any reference to former senior Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, one of six co-conspirators listed in the original indictment who were allegedly recruited by Trump to push false claims of election fraud.
In its immunity decision, the Supreme Court said the president’s communications with members of the Justice Department should be treated as official acts.
The indictment says the remaining co-conspirators, including Trump’s former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, were “acting in a private capacity to assist Trump in his criminal efforts to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election and retain power.”
Regarding the ruling on Trump’s immunity, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said she was “concerned” about the July decision, according to an interview released by CBS News on Tuesday.
“I was concerned about a system that seemed to give an individual immunity in certain circumstances, whereas we have a criminal justice system that generally treats everybody the same,” she said.
Jackson was among three justices who dissented from the Court’s decision.
Trump was convicted in New York in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
A sentencing date is set for Sept. 18, but Trump’s lawyers have sought to overturn his conviction and delay his sentencing, citing the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling.
Trump also faces charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.
Trump was also accused of mishandling top-secret documents in Florida after leaving the White House.
The judge hearing the case over the documents, Trump-appointed Ellen Cannon, dismissed the allegations on the grounds that special counsel Smith was unlawfully appointed.
Smith has appealed Cannon’s decision.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
