On Tuesday, special counsel Jack Smith’s office charged former President Donald Trump with a new indictment in the election subversion case against Trump.
“Today, a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned a superseding indictment, ECF No. 226, charging the defendant with the same criminal offenses that were charged in the original indictment,” a Justice Department spokesperson said Tuesday, per ABC News.
The superseding indictment is a document that replaces the original indictment, listing formal charges against a defendant but with modifications. The new indictment eliminated allegations that Trump attempted to pressure the U.S. Justice Department in his efforts to overturn his election loss.
The new indictment states, “Donald Trump did knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with co-conspirators, known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to defraud the United States by using dishonesty, fraud, and deceit to impair, obstruct, and defeat the lawful federal government function by which the results of the presidential election are collected, counted, and certified by the federal government.”
The changes to the case come two months after the Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity regarding official actions taken by a president while in office. Prior to that, legal proceedings in the case against Trump were halted in February after Trump’s legal team appealed the decision to the Supreme Court.
“The superseding indictment, which was presented to a new grand jury that had not previously heard evidence in this case, reflects the government’s efforts to respect and implement the Supreme Court’s holdings and remand instructions in Trump v. United States,” the special counsel’s office said, according to CNN.
The superseding indictment was released just days before the Sept. 5 hearing set by U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, where both sides will discuss how they wish to proceed.
