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Trump Special Counsel Files Updated 2020 Election Indictment

The US special counsel appointed to investigate claims of interference in the 2020 election is pressing ahead with the prosecution of Donald Trump after facing a setback this summer from the Supreme Court.
Bloomberg
Jack Smith Donald Trump Jack Smith and Donald Trump Photographer: Chip Somodevilla and Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Special Counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday filed an updated indictment following the high court’s blockbuster decision finding Trump at least partially immune from prosecution related to his official acts as president.

The new indictment cuts certain allegations related to Trump’s communications with government officials — including the section related to his alleged efforts to involve the Justice Department — but features the same four charges accusing him of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

It removes one of the six unindicted co-conspirators who wasn’t named but whose description matched former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark.

The latest activity by a federal grand jury in Washington is expected to kick off a fresh round of legal wrangling between Smith’s office and Trump’s lawyers over whether the updated indictment can survive under Supreme Court’s more expansive definition of presidential immunity from criminal charges.

The indictment includes allegations that the justices had suggested Trump might be immune from, such as his alleged efforts to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to intervene on his behalf.

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