“Today, a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned a superseding indictment, charging the defendant with the same crimes as the original indictment,” said members of the team of Jack Smith, the special prosecutor in the case.
“The superseding indictment, presented to a new grand jury that had not previously heard evidence in this case, reflects the government’s efforts to respect and enforce the Supreme Court’s rulings and charging instructions in Trump v. United States.”
In practice, the prosecution maintains the same allegations as in the original case, but limits the allegations to allow the immunity argument not to create a barrier in the case.
The new indictment omits passages that referred to Trump’s dealings with the Justice Department. Immunity is guaranteed for official business, but not for other maneuvers by the former president and 2024 reelection candidate.
In order to prevent Trump's defense from challenging immunity, the new case removes from the trial Jeffrey Clark, the Justice Department official who defended Trump's false claims of election fraud.
Despite the change, the accusation still points to the fact that Trump tried to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to certify the electoral vote count.
