Trump allies hope Jack Smith’s revised indictment lets them off the hook
CNN
While Donald Trump faces a fresh indictment over efforts to overturn the 2020 election, some of his biggest allies are hoping the revised charging document helps them evade professional consequences and criminal prosecution for their own roles nearly four years ago.
While Donald Trump faces a fresh indictment over efforts to overturn the 2020 election, some of his biggest allies are hoping the revised charging document helps them evade professional consequences and criminal prosecution for their roles nearly four years ago. Special counsel Jack Smith rewrote Trump’s federal indictment after the US Supreme Court ruled this summer that the president can’t be prosecuted for “official acts” taken while president. Smith not only narrowed the allegations against Trump but also removed references to communications between Trump and federal government officials. Now former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark are trying to use their onetime boss’ winnowed indictment to their advantage. Trump is the only one charged in the federal case, but several of his allies and members of his administration are facing state-level criminal charges over their meddling after the last election, including Clark and Meadows. Clark and others also are facing professional disciplinary proceedings that could disrupt their ability to practice law. Meadows, in particular, could stand to benefit from the new Trump indictment handed up in federal court last week. Meadows was cut from much of the document, except for some interactions he had with Trump as the then-president sought to reach the secretary of state in Georgia on the phone to pressure him into aiding his election reversal gambit. That has led Meadows’ attorneys to argue he should not be prosecuted for actions he took while serving in the White House. He’s been charged in Georgia and Arizona over his efforts to reverse the election results in the battleground states. His main defense so far has been to try to get the cases moved to federal court, which could make it easier for him to make a bid for his own immunity.
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