Donald Trump faces revised US indictment in election subversion case

[August 28, 2024]  By Andrew Goudsward and Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Donald Trump faced a revised federal indictment on Tuesday accusing him of illegally trying to overturn his 2020 election loss, with prosecutors narrowing their approach after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that former presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution.

U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith's team obtained the superseding indictment in the Washington case, though it was highly unlikely to proceed to trial ahead of the Nov. 5 election when the Republican Trump faces Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

The revised indictment lays out the same four charges prosecutors brought against the former president last year, but this one focuses on Trump's role as a political candidate seeking reelection, rather than as the president at the time.

The Supreme Court ruled on July 1 that Trump is at least presumptively immune from criminal prosecution for actions that were within his constitutional powers as president.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington has been expected to decide in coming weeks which aspects of the case must be tossed out based on the Supreme Court's immunity decision.

Attorneys for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
 

Trump in a statement on his Truth Social media platform said the Supreme Court's immunity ruling should lead to the entire case being thrown out, saying, "Smith rewrote the exact same case in an effort to circumvent the Supreme Court Decision."

Trump has pleaded not guilty to the initial charges, denouncing this case and the others he faces as politically motivated attempts to prevent him from returning to power.

Opinion polls have shown Harris opening up a narrow national lead over Trump since Democratic President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid last month.

This indictment, like the initial one, accuses Trump of a multi-part conspiracy to block the certification of his election defeat to Biden.

It retains allegations Trump pressured then-Vice President Mike Pence to use his role presiding over the congressional certification of the election on Jan. 6, 2021, to reject electoral votes from battleground states Trump lost.

"The defendant had no official responsibilities related to the certification proceeding, but he did have a personal interest as a candidate in being named the winner of the election," the revised indictment states, language that did not appear in the original charging document.

A mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on that Jan. 6 in an attempt to halt the congressional certification, which remains part of the case against Trump.

Page one in a new indictment in the 2020 election subversion case against Donald Trump is seen after U.S. prosecutors obtained the revised indictment in Washington, U.S., August 27, 2024. U.S. Department of Justice/Handout via REUTERS

FOCUS ON CAMPAIGN

The revised indictment no longer includes allegations that Trump sought to pressure the U.S. Justice Department as he tried to overturn his election defeat, an apparent effort to keep the prosecution alive after the high court found that Trump could not be prosecuted for that conduct.

It excises a reference to Jeffrey Clark, a senior Trump administration Justice Department official who allegedly sought to aid his attempts to undermine the election results, as a co-conspirator, and to former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, who allegedly told Trump his claims of widespread voter fraud were not true.

Bradley Moss, an attorney who specializes in national security, said the revised indictment reflects "a clear effort by the Justice Department to narrow the scope of factual information" to address the Supreme Court's ruling on immunity.

The revised 36-page indictment, nine pages shorter than the original, hinges on key testimony and evidence from witnesses largely outside the federal government, such as former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, whom the indictment says was pressured by Trump and a co-conspirator to call a special session to hold a hearing based on bogus assertions of voter fraud.

The case, one of four criminal prosecutions Trump has faced, has been delayed for months while Trump pressed his claim of immunity. The Supreme Court's 6-3 decision was powered by a conservative majority that includes three justices nominated by Trump.

In May, Trump was convicted by a New York jury of falsifying documents to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star. He is due to be sentenced on Sept. 18 although he has asked a judge to delay sentencing until after the Nov. 5 election.

Smith's move came ahead of a Friday deadline for his office and Trump's lawyers to propose a path forward in the election subversion case following the Supreme Court's immunity ruling.

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward and Sarah N. Lynch; Additional reporting by Jack Queen; Editing by Scott Malone and Howard Goller)

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