Veteran legal reporter Julie Kelly — who has covered the Trump trials, January 6 prosecutions and other instances of Democrat-led politically motivated law fare in-depth — broke down Biden DOJ-appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith’s latest indictment against former President Donald Trump.
The new indictment comes just weeks after the Supreme Court ruled that U.S. presidents have immunity relating to official conduct while in office. A separate ruling neutralized the Biden DOJ’s use of an obscure felony for “obstruction of an official proceeding,” which had for years been used against January 6 defendants, resulting in lengthy prison terms for simple trespassing violations. The obstruction of an official proceeding charge also formed half of Smith’s case against Trump relating to the former president’s objections to the 2020 election results.
The Merck Garland-appointed special counsel has argued that Trump illegally conspired to overturn the election results, despite the fact that there is constitutional and historical precedence for the move.
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With his January 6 case effectively dead, Smith on Tuesday announced that he will be filing a superseding indictment that covers much of the same conduct. The new indictment contains some notable deviations from the initial January 6 indictment and appears designed to sidestep the Supreme Court’s latest rulings, Kelly explained in an X thread.
Kelly first noted that former deputy Attorney General Jeff Clark was no longer listed as a “co-conspirator.” Clark has also been charged by Democrat prosecutors in Arizona and Georgia for endorsing a constitutionally protected objection to the election results. “SCOTUS determined Trump’s interactions with his own DOJ clearly represented ‘official acts’ and protected by presidential immunity,” Kelly wrote. “Where does Jeff Clark go to get his reputation back?”
“Jack Smith also had to present his case to a new grand jury in DC. SCOTUS further ruled immunized conduct could not be used during any phase of the investigation/prosecution including GJ proceedings,” Kelly further explained. “Of course it’s a layup getting an indictment against a Republican in DC.”
Smith also appears to have ignored key facets of the Supreme Court’s recent rulings in his latest indictment. The “obstruction of an official proceeding charge” remains in the indictment and forms the basis of Smith’s case “Smith does not appear to address the document/evidence impairment requirement held by SCOTUS.”
Smith’s new case has no chance of going to trial before Election Day, though the Biden DOJ has vowed to work on the cases through January, even if Trump wins in November.
An additional indictment filed by Smith involving Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents was tossed by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who argued that Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional.
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