New charges against Trump in election interference case after ruling on presidential immunity – Firstpost

Former U.S. President Donald Trump faced a new federal indictment on Tuesday accusing him of attempting to overturn his 2020 election defeat through illegal means.

While the charges are similar to those previously brought against him, they were narrowed in response to a recent Supreme Court ruling that grants former presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution for acts committed while in office.

The updated indictment continues to allege a multi-party conspiracy to prevent the certification of Trump's election defeat, but now focuses on his actions as a political candidate rather than his role as president at the time.

The Supreme Court's July 1 ruling that Trump was essentially immune from prosecution for actions taken within the scope of his constitutional powers as president prompted prosecutors to rethink their approach.

Focus on Trump's actions as a candidate

Notably, the revised indictment omits earlier allegations that Trump attempted to pressure the U.S. Justice Department to overturn the election results after the Supreme Court ruled that Trump could not be prosecuted for such conduct.

The indictment also alleges that Trump pressured then-Vice President Mike Pence to use his position to reject electoral votes from key swing states during the congressional certification on January 6, 2021.

The prosecution also relies heavily on testimony from witnesses outside the federal government, such as former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, who was reportedly pressured by Trump and a co-conspirator to call a special session of the House based on unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.

Trump's response

In response, Trump called the new charges a witch hunt and an attempt to influence the election on his Truth Social platform. He said the Supreme Court's immunity decision should lead to the entire case being dismissed, saying, “Smith rewrote the exact same case to get around the Supreme Court's decision.”

Trump pleaded not guilty to the first charges, calling them politically motivated attempts to prevent his return to power.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is expected to rule in the coming weeks on which aspects of the case could be dismissed because of the Supreme Court's immunity decision.

With contributions from agencies