Washington: Former US President 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 US Supreme Court ruling that former presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution.
US 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 November 5 election when the Republican Trump faces Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
What does the new indictment claim?
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 new indictment removes a section of the indictment that had accused Trump of trying to use the law enforcement powers of the Justice Department to overturn his election loss, an area of conduct for which the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 opinion last month, said that Trump was absolutely immune from prosecution.
Indian-origin judge to decide aspects of the case
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. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington is expected to decide in the coming weeks which aspects of the case must be tossed out based on the Supreme Court's immunity decision.
Trump calls it "Witch Hunt"
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 January 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 US Capitol on January 6 in an attempt to halt the congressional certification, which remains part of the case against Trump.
(With inputs from agency)
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