The new indictment is nine pages shorter.
The new superseding indictment in Donald Trump’s election fraud case is nine pages shorter than the original, with pages 9 to 11 removed completely.
The new indictment repeatedly emphasizes that Trump was acting as an election candidate, not as president, when he sought to overturn the 2020 presidential result.
The indictment’s new wording is an attempt to obey the Supreme Court’s July 1 ruling on presidential immunity.
On Tuesday, chief prosecutor Jack Smith filed the new indictment after seeking a month-long delay in the case.
The new filing shows that Smith made the decision to go before a grand jury and get a new superseding indictment, rather than make smaller amendments to the indictment.
That means that the new indictment will be subject to a completely new legal challenge, and Trump’s lawyers will be able to appeal its contents all the way through the federal appeal court system, and likely back to the Supreme Court.
There are numerous additions to the text as Smith and his team emphasize that Trump was acting as an election candidate, not as president.
Even with those additions, the indictment is nine pages shorter than the original, as Smith has had to remove any reference to Trump’s private conduct or official conduct that was used as evidence to indict Trump for private conduct.
