Special counsel Jack Smith filed a superseding indictment Tuesday to retool charges against former President Donald Trump, Breitbart reported. Trump slammed this move as "an effort to resurrect a 'dead' Witch Hunt" and called for the charges to "be dismissed immediately."
Smith originally charged Trump with four crimes in connection with an alleged effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. The case hit a roadblock as the president's legal team asserted that his conduct fell under presidential immunity.
The question of whether the privilege applied reached the Supreme Court, which sided with Trump in July. This forced Smith back to the drawing board to work around the issue.
What the new grand jury came up with this week was a revision to the same charges with language that skirts immunity. "The superseding indictment, which was presented to a new grand jury that had not previously heard evidence in this case, reflects the Government’s efforts to respect and implement the Supreme Court’s holdings and remand instructions in Trump v. United States," Smith said.
Trump called Smith's decision to pursue "a 'dead' Witch Hunt in Washington, D.C." was "an act of desperation." He charged that Smith was trying to "save face" and called Tuesday's move "a ridiculous new Indictment against me, which has all the problems of the old Indictment, and should be dismissed IMMEDIATELY," Trump wrote on Turth Social.
"His Florida Document Hoax Case has been completely dismissed," Trump noted. Earlier this year, a Florida judge threw out Trump's classified documents case in the Sunshine State on the grounds that Smith was unlawfully appointed.
Trump said Smith's indictment was "merely an attempt to INTERFERE WITH THE ELECTION, and distract the American People from the catastrophes Kamala Harris has inflicted on our Nation, like the Border Invasion, Migrant Crime, Rampant Inflation, the threat of World War III, and more..." Smith's effort will now continue with just two months left before Election Day.
Trump makes it clear that he believes the continued legal attacks are political. Smith is pursuing charges even after the Supreme Court defanged most of them, which defies reason except if the aim is something other than justice.
According to Fox News, Trump is still being charged with conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy against rights, and obstruction of and an attempt to obstruct an official proceeding. Trump has pleaded not guilty to them all.
However, Trump is no longer being accused of using the Justice Department in his efforts to overturn the election results. That charge initially came through Jeffrey Clark, who was a senior official in Trump's Justice Department.
Clark allegedly wanted to send letters to state officials claiming that his office "identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election" to stop the certification. Trump did not participate but rewarded Clark by keeping on as acting attorney general.
Clark and Trump were dropped as co-conspirators. These changes came just three days before the court's deadline for Smith to make his decision on what to do with the case in light of the immunity decision. It's unlikely that the trial will proceed before the November election.
Trump has faced several legal challenges while trying to conduct a presidential campaign, and now he must continue to defend himself despite the case being on shaky ground. Smith's decision to file a new indictment suggests this is no coincidence.
