Jack Smith confronts co-conspirators in January 6 case

President Donald Trump then speaks with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows outside the White House in 2020 (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File).

The special counsel's office sought to evade the U.S. Supreme Court's attempt to overturn its Jan. 6 indictment by filing an additional indictment on Tuesday that seeks to hastily revive the charge against former President Donald Trump.

However, Jack Smith also took the opportunity to warn some of the 45th President's alleged co-conspirators.

While the new filing avoids several previous references to explicitly prohibited topics – issues and discussions on which the nation's highest court, in its landmark July 1 ruling, subjected to the new and sweeping legal concept of post-assumption immunity for criminal acts – the text also contains some important additions.

In an early section of the new indictment, Smith attempts to stake out territory that would both preclude the defendant's use of “official acts” and serve as a warning to the alleged co-conspirators that the Supreme Court's ruling was not intended for them.

The extent to which the special counsel's arguments actually work in the government's favor is, of course, a matter for U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to assess – not to mention the probably inevitable second and third review by the lower courts.

“These co-conspirators included the following individuals, none of whom were government officials during the conspiracies and all of whom acted in their private capacities,” the new indictment states.

The indictment also names four “private” attorneys and a “private political adviser,” but specifically completely excludes Justice Department officials from the alleged conspiracy.

In fact, omission is the name of the game for Smith and his office when it comes to references to Trump's discussions and interactions with members of the “Justice Department” at large.

Such deletions appear to be explicitly drafted to comply with a section of the Supreme Court's immunity ruling that states: “Trump is therefore absolutely immune from prosecution for the alleged conduct related to his conversations with Justice Department officials.”

While former Justice Department officials may no longer remember Smith's possible subpoenas, the prosecutor is still dropping a few Damocles Sword hints to others in Trump's circle.

“The defendant continued his lies throughout the day of the certification proceedings on January 6,” the new indictment states. “That morning, the defendant delivered a campaign speech at a privately funded and privately organized political rally on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. During the speech, the defendant used many of the same unproven, objectively unreasonable, and publicly refuted lies to encourage the assembled crowd to march to the Capitol.”

The new indictment also refers to Trump's then-chief of staff, Mark Meadows, in the following heavily revised (and added) section about the election-rigging efforts in Georgia:

On January 2, four days before the congressional certification process, the defendant, his chief of staff – who sometimes handled personal and sometimes campaign-related logistics for the defendant – and private attorneys involved in the lawsuit against the Georgia Secretary of State called the Secretary of State.

Here too, the changes in the indictment tend to point to the allegedly ‘private’ nature of the services provided and measures taken.

Despite the few relevant additions to the government's narrative, the new post-immunity grand jury indictment contains nine fewer pages than the first indictment, dated August 1, 2023.

What is particularly noteworthy is that the new indictment renders almost all of pages 9 to 11 and most of page 23 of the original indictment irrelevant, which appears to be consistent with the Supreme Court's decision.

As always, Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy to interfere with the right to vote and the vote count.

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Jack Smith confronts co-conspirators in January 6 case

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