Jack Smith’s New Indictment Against Donald Trump: What We Know

Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed a fresh criminal indictment against Donald Trump in connection to the former president’s federal election subversion case.
The superseding indictment filed on Tuesday does not include any new charges against Trump outside the original felony counts signed by a grand jury in August 2023. Instead, the reworked indictment narrows in on Trump’s actions related to accusations that he attempted to remain in office after losing to President Joe Biden in 2020.
Trump previously pleaded not guilty to all charges related to the case and has repeatedly claimed that the DOJ brought the indictment against him as a form of election interference. Prosecutors wrote in an accompanying document Tuesday that they do not oppose waiving Trump’s arraignment on the superseding indictment.
The new indictment comes just days before U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s August 30 deadline for status reports on how the Supreme Court’s immunity decision impacts the case. A conference on the matter has been scheduled for September 5.
The revised charges follow the Supreme Court’s decision in July that ruled Trump was protected from facing criminal charges related to his official acts in office. Smith’s office wrote in an accompanying court filing that the new indictment was presented to a grand jury “that had not previously heard evidence in this case,” and “reflects the Government’s efforts to respect and implement the Supreme Court’s holdings and remand instructions.”
Newsweek has reached out to Trump’s lead attorney in the case, John Lauro, for comment via email.
Trump is still facing four felony charges, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S., the obstruction of an official proceeding to certify the 2020 election results and conspiracy against the rights of American voters to have their votes counted.
Prosecutors argue that Trump’s actions related to the indictment were political and personal by nature, including his efforts to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence to reject Congress’ certification of the 2020 election results on January 6, 2021. Smith’s office emphasized that Pence was not only the vice president but the former president’s “running mate” at the time.
The DOJ also noted that Trump’s rally on January 6, which resulted in hundreds of his supporters storming the U.S. Capitol during the ceremonial election certification, was “privately funded” and “privately organized.” Prosecutors also included several of Trump’s posts to Twitter, now known as X, in relation to the January 6 rally, and wrote that the former president often used his social media account for “personal purposes.”
One of the most significant changes between the 45-page indictment released last August and the 36-page superseding indictment filed Tuesday is that prosecutors removed allegations that Trump had pressured the Justice Department between November 2020 and January 2021 to support his baseless claims that the election results were stolen.
The new indictment also removes language around “Co-conspirator 4,” who was identified by the Associated Press (AP) as Jeffrey Clark, a former Trump DOJ lawyer and close ally to the former president. Clark allegedly sought to use his position at the Justice Department to further Trump’s false voter fraud claims following the 2020 election, according to witnesses who testified before the House January 6 Committee.
The other five co-conspirators listed in the original grand jury indictment remained in Trump’s new indictment filed Tuesday. AP has identified them as former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Trump attorneys John Eastman, Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro. The sixth co-conspirator has been identified as an unknown political consultant who assisted in Trump’s so-called fake elector scheme.
The case is almost certain not to head to trial before voters cast their ballots in the 2024 presidential race on November 5.
Update 08/27/24, 5:59 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information and background.