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(ABC – Australia) The scope of charges in the criminal case against Donald Trump for attempting to overturn his 2020 election defeat has been narrowed.
An indictment filed in federal court this week dropped charges that Trump sought to engage the U.S. Justice Department in a conspiracy to subvert the election.
What’s next?
The updated indictment shows prosecutors’ efforts to continue prosecuting Trump after a landmark court ruling granted him immunity.
Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss has been met with a new federal indictment that prosecutors narrowed after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that former presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution.
Donald Trump has been formally indicted for a third time for his alleged attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, culminating in the insurrection on January 6. Here’s what we know so far.
The amended indictment no longer includes allegations that Trump sought to pressure the U.S. Justice Department over alleged efforts to subvert the election, an apparent effort to proceed with the prosecution after the Supreme Court ruled that Trump could not be prosecuted for that conduct.
Special prosecutor Jack Smith filed an updated indictment in the Washington case that retains the same criminal charges but narrows them to The Supreme Court said last month that Trump is entitled to immunity Given that he was president at the time.
Mr. Smith’s office said the verdict was reached by a grand jury that had not previously heard evidence in the case.
The updated criminal case no longer names Jeffrey Clark, a Justice Department official who supported Trump’s false claims of election fraud, as a co-conspirator.
Trump’s co-conspirators are not named in either indictment, but they have been identified through public records and other means.
The indictment retains charges that Trump tried to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to certify the electoral votes, and accuses him of conspiring to prevent certification of his election loss to Democratic President Joe Biden.
Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the court, said the interactions between Trump and Pence were official conduct and that “Trump is at least presumed to be immune from prosecution.”
Key testimony and evidence in the new indictment came primarily from witnesses outside the federal government, such as former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, who the indictment alleges was pressured by Trump and his accomplices to hold hearings based on false allegations of voter fraud.
Both sides are due back in court next week for a status hearing, the first time in months as the case has been effectively frozen since Trump’s immunity appeal advanced through the judicial system in December.
Trump faces four separate charges: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction and attempted obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy to violate rights.
All offences carry a potential prison sentence, some up to 20 years, but maximum sentences are rare.
Trump is once again running in this year’s election as the Republican candidate, and this time his opponent is Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
ABC/Reuters/AP
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