Following the Supreme Court ruling, Trump is charged in an election interference case

(WASHINGTON) — Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed additional charges against former President Donald Trump in his federal election interference case.

“Today, a grand jury in federal court in the District of Columbia issued a new indictment, ECF No. 226, charging the defendant with the same crimes alleged in the original indictment,” a Justice Department spokesman said Tuesday.

“The new indictment, 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 rulings and instructions to remand the indictment,” the spokesman said.

Trump pleaded not guilty last August to federal charges that he conspired to overturn the 2020 election results in order to stay in power. Last month, in a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump has immunity from prosecution for official acts while in office and sent the case back to the court to determine which charges against him stand.

The new indictment retains the four original charges against Trump from the special counsel's original indictment – but it is slimmed down to align with the Supreme Court's decision.

The original indictment listed five ways in which Trump allegedly obstructed the work of the federal government – he had state election officials change electoral votes, had fraudulent electoral rolls created, used the Justice Department for “sham investigations,” hired the vice president to obstruct the certification of the election, and abused the chaos of the Jan. 6 riots. The new indictment no longer mentions his use of the Justice Department, even though it was specifically mentioned in the Supreme Court decision as part of his official duties.

While the original indictment mentions the Justice Department over 30 times, the new indictment makes no mention of it. It also rewords the part of the original indictment that says Trump allegedly knew his claims of election fraud were false.

The indictment describes Trump as a “candidate for President of the United States … who was also the incumbent President” and states that he “had no official duties related to the certification of the election results by any State.”

The new indictment is 36 pages long, while the original indictment was 45 pages long.

This came just days after Smith filed a brief asking the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a federal judge's surprise dismissal of the case involving Trump's secret documents.

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