Following the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling, Donald Trump faces new charges in the case of the January 6 riots
WASHINGTON – Donald Trump faced a new federal charge Tuesday as he tries to overturn his 2020 election loss, with prosecutors narrowing their approach after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that former presidents are entitled to broad immunity from criminal prosecution.
Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team obtained new indictments in the Washington case.
The revised indictment lays out the same four counts as those filed against the former Republican president last year, focusing on Trump’s role as a political candidate seeking re-election rather than his role as president at the time.
The Supreme Court ruled on July 1 that Trump cannot be prosecuted for actions that fall within his constitutional powers as president.
Trump’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The revised indictment no longer includes allegations that Trump attempted to pressure the Justice Department to overturn his election loss, an apparent attempt to preserve the prosecution after the Supreme Court ruled that Trump could not be prosecuted for such conduct.
This indictment, like the original, accuses Trump of a multi-party conspiracy to prevent the certification of his election defeat to Democratic President Joe Biden.
Trump is running again as the Republican candidate, this time against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. The election will take place this year on November 5.
The case was presented to a new grand jury that did not hear the evidence from the original case, a Justice Department spokesman said.
The new version of the indictment relies on key testimony and evidence from witnesses, most of whom are outside the federal government, including former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, who the indictment alleges was pressured by Trump and a co-conspirator to call a special session hearing based on false claims of election fraud.
The new indictment also drops allegations that Trump tried to pressure the Justice Department to overturn his election loss, an apparent attempt to keep the prosecution going after the Supreme Court ruled that Trump could not be prosecuted for such conduct.
This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.
