New indictment secured in Trump election case
By: Kinsey Crowley
and Bart Jansen
USA Today
..... Former President Donald Trump faces a new indictment in his election interference case after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling on presidential immunity.
.....
The indictment secured Tuesday [08/27/2024] supersedes the existing indictment in the federal criminal case over whether he tried to steal the 2002 election. It is one of four criminal cases in which the Republican presidential nominee has been charged.
..... Those cases faced a new legal landscape when the U.S. Supreme Court made history in July [2024] in deciding when a president is immune from criminal prosecution.
..... Trump has been indicted on the following charges in regard to election interference:
* Conspiracy to defraud the U.S.
* Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.
* Obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding.
* Conspiracy against rights.
..... The case accuses Trump of using his campaign to repeat incorrect claims about election fraud and stoke "an intense national atmosphere of mistrust, and anger, and erode public faith in the administration of the election."
.....
Those claims also included Trump's role in directing a crowd to go to the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, the indictment states.
..... Trump has pleaded not guilty and argued the case should be dismissed.
..... In July, [2024] a divided Supreme Court ruled that "official" acts taken by a president are protected from criminal prosecution, but actions as a private citizen are not protected. That means acts taken as a political candidate are not subject to immunity.
..... Trump had claimed absolute immunity in the election interference case, which was unanimously rejected buy a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. But the Supreme court opted to decide on limits to criminal prosecution of presidents for the first time.
..... "The parties before us do not dispute that a former President can be subject to criminal prosecution for unofficial acts committed in office," Che if Justice John Roberts wrote for the 6-3 majority that divided along idealogical lines. "They also agree that some of the conduct described in the indictment includes actions taken by Trump in his unofficial capacity."
..... Tuesday's [08/27/2024] election interference indictment sought to implement the ruling by creating a distinction between Trump's private actions and public duties.
..... It argued that social media posts and his speech on January 6, 2021, were part of his campaign, and therefore not an official and protected act.
..... The new indictment also added phrasing that then-Vice President Mike Pence's role on January 6, 2021, was outside of the executive branch.
..... Trump called the new indictment "ridiculous" in a post on Truth Social of the old indictment, and should be dismissed IMMEDIATELY."
..... Cont4ributing: Maureen Groppe, Aysha Bagchi, Josh Meyer