Tactical move in new indictment against former US President Donald Trump

The new indictment of former US President Donald Trump related to the 2020 election interference case has appeared to cut back the lawsuits, the reason behind which could be a “tactical retreat”.

Special Prosecutor Jack Smith at a press conference on August 27, 2024. Photo cut from Reuters clip

On August 27, special prosecutor Jack Smith announced a new indictment against former US President Donald Trump related to the 2020 election interference case, reducing it from 45 pages to 36 pages. The first change is that the "fourth co-defendant" who was mentioned nearly 30 times in the original indictment is no longer there. Through investigation, CNN believes that this co-defendant is Jeffrey Clark - who was appointed as acting Attorney General, supporting Mr. Trump in using executive power to influence the election results. But the most obvious change is that the new indictment removes all content about the effort to exploit the US Department of Justice as a "weapon" to help Mr. Trump cling to power. According to CNN legal analyst Elie Honig, the new indictment still includes the four initial charges issued on August 1, 2023, related to Mr. Trump's 2020 election interference case. However, Honig said that special prosecutor Smith deleted some parts of the original indictment that could be considered "official acts" and only charged Mr. Trump with alleged attempts to "pressure state and local officials" and "submit false voter rolls." The reason, according to Honig, is the US Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity. Specifically, on July 1, the US Supreme Court ruled by a 6-3 vote that former US President Donald Trump enjoys immunity for official actions, while actions he took in his personal capacity do not enjoy immunity. This was the first time that this form of immunity for the US president was applied, and at the time, Mr. Trump welcomed the ruling in a post on social network X, saying: "This is a great victory for our constitution and democracy. Proud to be an American!" Honig added that the US Supreme Court's ruling said that many of Trump's actions while in office, including his interactions with the US Justice Department, his public communications and possibly his interactions with (former) US Vice President Mike Pence, were likely to be exempt and therefore would not be part of this case. Therefore, according to Honig, special prosecutor Smith made a "tactical decision" to not continue to fight to retain what the US Supreme Court had excluded and to "focus on the pressure Donald Trump put on state and local officials as well as the election tampering conspiracy." Watch video of special prosecutor Jack Smith at a press conference on August 27, 2024. Source: Reuters

In August 2023, special counsel Smith filed a 45-page indictment in federal court in Washington, charging Trump with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, one count of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstructing and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy to suppress the voting rights of voters.

The charges mark Trump's becoming the first former president in US history to face criminal charges for attempting to overturn the election results. However, with the announcement of the new indictment with the above cuts, Honig said there has been a "tactical retreat". "I think Jack Smith made the decision to take into account the immunity ruling (in the July 1, 2024 ruling) of the US Supreme Court" because Jack Smith did not want to spend time and resources fighting to bring other parts of the case into the case. So, according to Honig, what Jack Smith did was retreat to the safest ground for the part that Trump may not be immune from. Because the US Supreme Court's ruling said "it is very likely that the president does not have a duty to interact and pressure state and local officials". Honig added that Trump's legal team will likely appeal the new indictment and argue that the rest of the case is subject to immunity. But regardless, the CNN legal analyst said there is a "0% chance" the case will go to trial before the November 5 election. In response to the incident, in a statement on the social media platform Truth on August 27, former US President Donald Trump said that the new indictment brought by special prosecutor Jack Smith is a ridiculous indictment against him in an attempt to revive the "Witch Hunt is dead in Washington, DC" and must be dismissed immediately. Just two hours after Mr. Smith filed the new indictment, former US President Donald Trump's campaign also sent out a fundraising email to voters and called on people to donate to support him.

Thanh Nam/Tin Tuc Newspaper (According to CNN, huffpost.com)

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/the-gioi/nuoc-co-chien-thuat-trong-cao-trang-moi-voi-cuu-tong-thong-my-donald-trump-20240828103545040.htm