Feds issue new Jan. 6 Trump indictment after immunity ruling

Special counsel Jack Smith filed a revised indictment on Tuesday against former President Donald Trump relating to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The new indictment narrowed the allegations against Trump in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling giving former presidents broad immunity for official actions taken while in office.

What kinds of changes? The revised indictment still includes the allegations of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy against rights, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, and obstructing and attempting to obstruct the congressional certification of the 2020 election results. The revised indictment omits previous allegations that Trump tried to use his executive authority to influence the U.S. Department of Justice to overturn the 2020 election results. The new indictment no longer includes former Assistant U.S. Attorney General Jeffrey Clark as an alleged co-conspirator. Previously, Smith alleged that Clark planned to send a letter to states falsely claiming that the DOJ had identified potential problems with the election. The Supreme Court’s majority opinion maintained that the president’s interactions with DOJ officials like Clark is considered official business and therefore entitles him to immunity.

How has Trump responded? The DOJ has violated its own policy of not taking any action that will influence an election within 60 days of that election, Trump wrote on social media. He called for the dismissal of what he termed Biden-Harris hoaxes.

Dig deeper: Read Josh Schumacher’s report on a federal judge dismissing Trump’s classified document case last month.