Trump indicted again in federal election interference case following Supreme Court immunity ruling
Trump indicted again in federal election interference case following Supreme Court immunity ruling
The Supreme Court’s decision last month barred the government from using certain “official acts” Trump had taken as president in its prosecution.
A federal grand jury on Tuesday returned a superseding indictment that charges Trump with the same four counts he faced in the original indictment last August: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.
The new indictment was returned following the Supreme Court's decision on presidential immunity last month, which barred the government from using certain "official acts" Trump took in his role as president in its prosecution.
“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,” special counsel Jack Smith's office said in Tuesday's filing.
We might see the legal precedent for what constitutes an official act or not in this next court case. Or not. My predictions are that
- Prosecution is going to try and argue that certain actions that are part of the office of the president are not official acts, especially if they were not in writing
- Defense is going to argue the maximalist interpretation of official acts and presidential immunity
- There will be another appeal to the Supreme Court
- This case will be delayed until after the November election
My questions are
- How many charges are now possible to prosecute?
- What other precedent will this case set for future POTUS?
Both great questions. For number 1, if Harris doesn't win, it won't matter. If she does and SCOTUS rules fairly (which is unpredictable), I think the documents case were acts of his after he stepped down. The fraud case was before and the interference case were all unofficial acts because it was treason. I'm pretty sure treason is unofficial.
Treason has a very specific definition under US law. (Specifically written into the US Constitution) Trump isn't facing Treason charges.
He is facing charges of Willful retention of National Defense Information, obstruction of justice, and withholding records as well as making false statements. This is for the Florida case
He faces 10 counts of racketeering in Georgia
This case in DC over Jan 6 has conspiracy to defraud the US, obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
Apparently, the revised indictment for this case has Donald Trump as a political candidate, rather than president. He is going to argue that all of those actions he took were unofficial as they were connected to his candidacy for POTUS.