Special Counsel Files Superseding Indictment Against Trump

Special counsel Jack Smith filed a superseding indictment in his case indicting former President Trump for his actions seeking to subvert the 2020 election

The superseding indictment is an effort by the special counsel to respond to a ruling earlier this summer by the Supreme Court, which held that Trump and other former executives retain broad immunity for core actions they took as president and are presumptively immune for other actions taken while in office.

While the indictment retains the original charges – a sign of Smith’s confidence in the evidence underpinning the case – it makes significant cuts in an effort “to respect and implement the Supreme Court’s holdings.”

The filing removes former Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Clark as an unnamed, unindicted co-conspirator in the case, a reflection of specific instructions from the Supreme Court that said Trump’s conversations with Justice Department officials were protected from prosecution. 

The superseding indictment is 10 pages shorter than the original, cutting lengthy examples from the original “speaking indictment” that walked through the evidence against Trump and his plots to remain in power.

But the new filing takes pains to distinguish various elements of Trump’s efforts to unwind the election as actions taken purely in a private capacity – and thus conduct that can be prosecuted.

Trump on his social media site called it “an effort to resurrect a ‘dead’ Witch Hunt” and move by Smith to “save face.”

“Deranged Jack Smith, has brought a ridiculous new Indictment against me, which has all the problems of the old Indictment, and should be dismissed IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote.

The Tuesday filing comes after Smith presented the case against the former president to a second grand jury, which had not previously heard the matter. It likewise concluded charges were warranted against the president.