WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, federal prosecutors filed a new indictment against former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election interference case. It keeps the same four charges against Trump, which allege his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. In this new filing, there are changes to align itself with a recent Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.
In the new pared down version, the indictment keeps a similar layout and structure to the original. In the new filing, Special Counsel Jack Smith tried to keep a recent Supreme Court ruling in mind, where Justices ruled presidents are immune from prosecution for official acts not unofficial acts. The new indictment represents an effort to outline some of Trump’s alleged actions as unofficial or official.
For example, one part reads: “The defendant – not as president but in his capacity as a candidate for office” tried to pressure Georgia’s attorney general to support an election lawsuit filed in the supreme court by another state’s attorney general.
Another example is Trump’s use of social media. The new indictment said Trump used Twitter for both official and unofficial uses in regard to the alleged conspiracies presented in the indictment.
It looks like the former president is responding to this recent filing by Tweeting out quote: “PERSECUTION OF A POLITICAL OPPONENT!”
This indictment follows right after the classified documents case was recently dismissed. Special Counsel Jack Smith also filed an appeal on that case.