Trump stated, "Prosecutor Smith rewrote the exact same case, attempting to circumvent the Supreme Court's ruling."
Trump faced a revised federal indictment on Tuesday, accusing him of illegally attempting to overturn the 2020 election defeat. Prosecutors adjusted their strategy after the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents enjoy broad criminal immunity prior to the ruling.
The team of special prosecutor Jack Smith in the United States obtained this alternative indictment in Washington, but it is unlikely to proceed to trial until the election between Trump and Harris on November 5 this year.
The revised indictment lists the same four charges brought against the former president by prosecutors last year, but this time focuses on Trump's role as a political candidate seeking re-election, rather than his status as president at the time.
On July 1, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump, at least in theory, has the right to be immune from criminal prosecution for actions taken while exercising constitutional powers as president.
Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court in Washington is expected to decide in the coming weeks which aspects of the case must be dismissed based on the Supreme Court's immunity ruling.
Trump's lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump posted a statement on his Truth Social social media platform, saying, 'The Supreme Court's immunity ruling should result in the entire case being dismissed,' and added, 'Smith rewrote the exact same case in an attempt to circumvent the Supreme Court's ruling.'
Trump denies the initial charges and condemns this case and other cases against him as politically motivated to prevent his return to power.
Public opinion polls show that since Biden ended his reelection campaign last month, Harris has slightly expanded her lead over Trump nationwide.
This indictment, like the original one, accuses Trump of conspiring to prevent evidence that he lost to Biden in the previous election.
The revised indictment retains the accusation of Trump pressuring former Vice President Pence, as Trump asked Pence to refuse the electoral votes he lost in key swing states.
The revised indictment states: "The defendant did not have an official role in the certification process, but he did have a personal interest in being named the winner of the election." This language did not appear in the original indictment.
A group of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to disrupt the congressional certification process. This is still part of the case against Trump.
The revised indictment no longer includes allegations that Trump attempted to pressure the U.S. Department of Justice to overturn his election defeat, seemingly attempting to preserve the validity of the indictment after the Supreme Court ruled that Trump cannot be prosecuted for this action.
It removes the references to Clark, a senior official in the Trump administration's Department of Justice who allegedly tried to help Trump undermine the election results, and no longer mentions former Attorney General William Barr, who reportedly told Trump that his widespread claims of voter fraud were unfounded.
Bradley Moss, a lawyer specializing in national security law, said that the revised indictment reflects the Justice Department's explicit efforts to narrow the scope of factual information in response to the Supreme Court's ruling on privilege.
The revised 36-page indictment is nine pages shorter than the original indictment, primarily excluding key witnesses and evidence from outside the federal government. For example, the indictment references former Arizona House Speaker, Boles, who allegedly faced pressure from Trump and his conspirators to call for a special session and hold a hearing based on false claims of election fraud.
This case is one of the four criminal prosecutions faced by Trump, which has been delayed for months due to Trump's claims of privilege. The 6-3 ruling by the Supreme Court was driven by a conservative majority, including three justices nominated by Trump.
In May, Trump was found guilty by a New York grand jury of fabricating documents to cover up payments to a porn star. He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 18th, but has requested the judge to postpone the sentencing until after the November 5th election.