Smith files new indictment in Trump Jan. 6 case, adjusting for immunity decision

Special counsel Jack Smith filed a superseding indictment in his case indicting former President Trump for his actions seeking to subvert the 2020 election, retaining the same charges but shifting some elements of the case in the wake of the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling.

The Tuesday filing comes after Smith presented the case against the former president to a second grand jury, which had not previously heard the case. It likewise concluded charges were warranted against the president.

The superseding indictment is an effort by the special counsel to respond to a ruling earlier this summer by the Supreme Court, which held that Trump and other former executives retain broad immunity for core actions they took as president and are presumptively immune for other actions taken while in office.

The filing removes former Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Clark as an unnamed, unindicted co-conspirator in the case, a reflection of specific instructions from the Supreme Court that said Trump’s conversations with Justice Department officials were protected from prosecution. 

Trump was prepared to install Clark as acting attorney general so that he could investigate his baseless claims of election fraud.

The filing also bumps up by a day the date that prosecutors argue Trump’s conspiracy to remain in office began — Nov. 13, 2020.

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