Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed a superseding indictment in the federal election case facing former President Donald Trump in Washington. Filed yesterday, the indictment has been updated since the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. United States, which held that presidents enjoyed certain types of immunity from criminal prosecution.
The new indictment omits allegations involving the former president’s interactions with the Justice Department. Chief Justice John Roberts’s majority opinion held that the president enjoyed immunity over these types of allegations.
Special counsel Jack Smith speaks to members of the media at the U.S. Department of Justice building in Washington on Aug. 1, 2023. Saul Loeb/AFP
Four counts remain, including two that utilize the financial reform law the Supreme Court reviewed in Fischer v. United States. Heritage Foundation Vice President John Malcolm previously told The Epoch Times: “This ruling also is going to apply to Donald Trump.”
A filing by Smith’s team said, “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.”
Timing is still an issue for Smith, whose Washington prosecution was delayed for months as the Supreme Court decided Trump’s presidential immunity appealed. The case is expected to extend past the election and be dismissed if Trump takes office in January.
Even if Kamala Harris wins the presidency and Smith’s prosecution proceeds with an altered indictment, it could make its way back to the Supreme Court in yet another appeal.
Smith is separately fighting to maintain the legitimacy of his office after Florida Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that his appointment was unconstitutional. On Aug. 26, he filed a brief asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to reverse her decision to dismiss his prosecution over Trump’s handling of classified documents.
It’s unclear how much of the superseding indictment will ultimately survive.
Roberts’s majority opinion grouped the allegations into three categories: those surrounding Trump’s work with the Department of Justice (DOJ); those involving his communication with state electors and his communications on Jan. 6, 2021; and his urging Vice President Mike Pence to not certify the election results in the Senate.
Trump received absolute immunity from prosecution of the first category. For the second, the Court remanded the issue to the district court to determine whether his actions were official. His communications with Pence are “presumptively immune,” but the DOJ can rebut that presumption in court.
—Sam Dorman and agencies
Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, on Jan. 31, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times
ZUCKERBERG’S MEA CULPA
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg regrets bowing to government pressure to censor information about COVID-19 on Facebook.
He wrote to chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), placing the blame on officials of President Joe Biden’s administration.
“In 2021, senior officials from the Biden administration, including the White House, repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire, and expressed a lot of frustration with our teams when we didn’t agree,” the letter said.
Facebook and other platforms engaged in censorship of purported “misinformation” about lockdowns, vaccines, and other topics related to the pandemic, or policies being enforced at that time.
“Ultimately, it was our decision whether or not to take the content down, and we own our decisions, including COVID-19-related changes we made to our enforcement in the wake of this pressure,” he said.
Zuckerberg asserts he won’t make the same mistake twice, and will resist if similar pressure were applied in the future, saying “we’re ready to push back if something like this happens again.”
He’s also done an about-face on election contributions. Last election, he and his wife’s charity, Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, donated $400 million to election infrastructure projects.
He said these donations were motivated by a concern that some jurisdictions would not have adequate resources because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This coming November, he says he won’t make similar donations, to assure he does “not play a role one way or another, or to even appear to play a role” in the upcoming Trump/Harris contest.
—Stacy Robinson and Stephen Katte
IMPACT OF RFK Jr. DROPPING OUT
The upcoming battle for the presidency is expected to be a close one; the race will probably hinge on the outcome of a few swing states.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has dropped out of the race and endorsed former President Donald Trump, but his name may still be on the ballot in as many as 40 states. It remains unclear which way potential Kennedy voters will lean, despite his endorsement of Trump.
Kennedy told The Epoch Times on Aug. 26 that he believes his voters will swing to Trump, and clinch the victory for the former president. He has withdrawn his name from ballots in battleground states.
Attendees at Kennedy campaign events have told The Epoch Times that they would vote for Trump, and Kennedy’s internal campaign polling showed a similar result, with the former president picking up 57 percent of Kennedy supporters.
Trump’s internal polling numbers back this assertion, as do outside polling sources. But former New York senator David Carlucci says Pew research data shows would-be Kennedy voters being less enthusiastic about Vice President Kamala Harris or Trump; they may just stay home on Nov. 5, and have no real impact on the election.
Ohio-based Republican strategist Wes Farno disagrees. He told The Epoch Times that there are enough motivated Kennedy voters to make a big dent in Harris’s numbers, and secure the win for Trump. He attributes this in part to a change of political mindset among American voters.
“It highlights a growing trend: people are seeking answers to pressing policy questions. Whether it’s about COVID-19 being a government experiment gone wrong, the possibility of the CIA involvement in the Kennedy assassinations, the situation in Ukraine, or concerns about the safety of our food, Americans are increasingly questioning the narratives they’ve been given,” he said.
Kennedy said he will be stumping for Trump on the campaign trail. Likewise, Trump has said if he wins he will appoint Kennedy to a panel investigating chronic illness in children.
Corruption in healthcare has been a signature platform issue for Kennedy, and he told The Epoch Times on Aug. 26 that he believes a Trump win will give him the leverage he needs to make a difference in this area.
But some are waving off the RFK endorsement altogether.
“Good riddance,” said DNC senior adviser Mary Beth Cahill.
“Donald Trump isn’t earning an endorsement that’s going to help build support, he’s inheriting the baggage of a failed fringe candidate.”
Harris Campaign Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon extended an olive branch to former Kennedy supporters.
“For any American out there who is tired of Donald Trump and looking for a new way forward, ours is a campaign for you,” she said.
—Stacy Robinson and Jeff Louderback
BOOKMARKS
Former president Trump has announced that he and Vice President Kamala Harris have come to an agreement on the terms for their upcoming presidential debate. He says the terms will be similar to those of his debate with President Joe Biden; the candidates will be standing, and will not be allowed to use notes.
Harris and Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) have agreed to give their first joint interview since agreeing to run for the November presidential election. The interview will be hosted by CNN’s Dana Bash; Harris has been criticized for refusing to hold interviews since she was tapped to replace Biden on the Democrat ticket.
Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys are accusing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis of grave misconduct because of a speech she gave in an Atlanta church in January. In the speech, Willis reportedly implied that attempts to have her disqualified because of her romantic relationship with the prosecutor of Trump’s election interference case were motivated by racism.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard have been tapped to join Trump’s presidential transition team, should he win this November’s election. Kennedy and Gabbard have both endorsed Trump, and will be influential in upcoming staffing choices for the potential administration.
The Georgia State Election Board wants to implement new rules that allow investigation into fraud before certifying election results. The Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party of Georgia are suing to prevent this. They allege the new rules could lead to long delays in election certification, which would undermine the results and “create a vacuum that leads to misinformation and disinformation.”
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan has flown to Beijing for a three-day meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, at a time when military and economic tensions are rising worldwide. The pair will discuss a wide range of issues, including increasing aggression by China in the Indo-Pacific region.
Pavel Durov, 39-year-old CEO and co-founder of messaging app Telegram, has been arrested and detained by the French government. Durov is being held for refusing to adequately police illegal behavior on his app, which the government asserts is being used for fraud, child pornography, and money laundering.
—Stacy Robinson
