George Washington University (GWU) law professor Jonathan Turley detailed Tuesday on Fox News why special counsel Jack Smith’s new indictment against former President Donald Trump still “does not hold together” very well.
Special Counsel Smith filed a superseding indictment Tuesday in the Trump election interference case, narrowing charges after the Supreme Court ruled that presidents have broad legal immunity for actions done as official duties. On “Special Report With Bret Baier,” Turley noted that despite Smith removing contradictory evidence, he still doesn’t believe “it solves the problem” of the main arguments against Trump due to some issues protected under the Supreme Court’s decisions. (RELATED: Jack Smith Files Superseding Indictment Against Trump In 2020 Election Case)
“It’s the shrinkflation indictment. It’s the same packaging, just less product inside. What they did is kept the four charges, and they just took out any evidence that clearly would have contradicted the Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity. It does not hold together, in my view, very well. I don’t even think it solves the problem,” Turley said.
“For example, he is keeping in, as one of the four main allegations, Trump’s communications with and to Pence. That’s still presumptively protected under the Supreme Court decision. He also includes communications with members of Congress that could also trip a wire,” Turley continued. “The first two main theories deal with state officials and the slates, the alternative slates that Trump’s team was pushing. So he doesn’t really get out of the problem that many still see with this.”
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Turley continued to breakdown one of the charges Smith decided to keep, as he called the decision an “interesting” choice.
“What’s also interesting, Bret, is he keeps the charges of obstruction of official proceedings. There was a second case, the Fisher case, that dramatically narrowed how prosecutors can bring that charge,” Turley said. “They have to essentially allege tampering of evidence or destruction of evidence. It’s not clear how he’s going to thread that needle on those charges.”
Following the Supreme Court decision on Trump’s presidential immunity case, indictments against the former president were in question as the ruling was expected to have a rippling effect, possibly causing delays and complications in the cases, according to ABC News.
The new indictment from Smith includes the original four charges brought against Trump in July, but omits allegations related to Trump’s “attempt to leverage the Justice Department” and revises language concerning claims that Trump acted outside his official duties.
“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,” Smith wrote in a notice.
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