Updated charges against Trump over 2020 election

A federal grand jury in Washington on Tuesday brought a watered-down indictment against Donald Trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, removing some of the charges that the Supreme Court had deemed non-criminal.

The latest request from special counsel John L. “Jack” Smith comes as the Washington, D.C., case against the former president enters a new phase that will almost certainly last until after the fall election.

The new indictment retained the same four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of an official proceeding.

However, the new indictment removed allegations that Trump attempted to recruit Justice Department and White House officials to support his efforts to overturn his defeat.

It also no longer refers to Trump's communications with White House officials and staff about his alleged lies about the election, nor to “Co-Conspirator 4,” who many reports say is former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark.

Overall, the new indictment is nine pages shorter than the one published last year.

While the indictment dropped some charges, it also placed new emphasis on Trump's use of his public persona outside the Oval Office, such as on his Twitter account and at his campaign rally on January 6, 2021.

The indictment still contains many of the allegations related to Trump's far-reaching plan to overturn the election, including his calls to state officials to stop the vote count, his attempt to submit false lists of presidential electors and his attempt to persuade then-Vice President Mike Pence not to recognize the electoral votes of states Trump lost.

In a 6-3 decision last month, the Supreme Court granted presidents “absolute immunity” from federal prosecution for the “core” of their constitutional duties, but may grant them lesser immunity for actions outside that core.

That ruling, written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., specifically states that Trump cannot be prosecuted for his alleged collaboration with Justice Department officials.

“The allegations in the indictment that the requested investigations were ‘sham investigations’[s]”or proposed for an improper purpose, do not deprive the President of sole authority over the investigative and law enforcement functions of the Department of Justice and its officials,” the statement said.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett also wrote in her ruling that some of these allegations may not fall under Trump's newfound immunity. She specifically mentioned Trump's efforts to create false electoral slates and encourage Pence to reject votes from states Trump lost as charges that could be impeachable.

“In my view, this conduct is private and therefore not immune,” Barrett wrote in a footnote.

Smith must submit a plan for how to proceed with the Washington case by Friday. Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has scheduled a hearing on the future of the case for next Friday.