Trump's Trials - New indictment against Trump in the federal Jan. 6 case

Episode Date: August 27, 2024

For this episode of Trump's Trials, All Things Considered Host Ailsa Chang speaks with Justice Correspondent Carrie Johnson.The Justice Department has obtained a new grand jury indictment in the federal election interference case against Donald Trump. The move comes weeks after the Supreme Court gave the former president substantial immunity from prosecution.Follow the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for new episodes each Saturday.Sign up for sponsor-free episodes and support NPR's political journalism at plus.npr.org/trumpstrials.Email the show at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It's Trump's Trials from NPR. I'm Scott Detro. We love Trump! This is a persecution. He actually just stormed out of the courtroom. Innocent to proven guilty in a court of law. We are back in your feed with some news out of the federal election interference case. This is the case where former President Donald Trump is accused of attempting to overturn

the 2020 election. Now, yeah, it's been a while since we did an update on this podcast. And that is because this case, as well as the Georgia case focused on the aftermath of the 2020 election, have essentially been on hold since the US Supreme Court's landmark decision earlier this summer, granting presidents broad immunity. That decision had massive implications for this case and we have been waiting to see how special counsel Jack Smith would respond. Today he did.

Smith filed a superseding indictment, basically a brand new indictment against Trump. So what does that mean and what is different from the previous charges? Stick around and National Justice Correspondent Carrie Johnson will explain. You're listening to Trump's Trials. I'm Scott Detro. And now here's Elsa Chang. Okay, why are we seeing a new indictment against Donald Trump today? The criminal charges in this DC-based case are the same—conspiracy to defraud the United States, to deprive millions of 2020 voters of their rights, obstruction of an official proceeding. But some of the specific allegations are different.

And that's because of the landmark Supreme Court decision last month that gave Trump and future presidents a lot of leeway to use their official powers. Right. Special counsel Jack Smith said in court papers today that this latest action was an effort to respect and implement those Supreme Court holdings. Interesting. Okay, this indictment came out only a short while ago. What have you found so far that is new? The single biggest change is that allegations about Donald Trump misusing the Justice Department to try to promote bogus claims of election fraud are now gone, totally vanished. And so is the Trump official who allegedly tried to carry out those efforts inside the DOJ. That's a lawyer named Jeffrey Clark.

He had been listed as co-conspirator number four in the case, but now all the co-conspirators are people who did not work in the Trump administration at the time and people who were acting in a private capacity. That's important because the ruling by the conservative super majority on the Supreme Court specifically gave a president a lot of power over the Justice Department. In another change, these new charges also specify when prosecutors think Donald Trump was acting as a candidate, a person seeking political office and not as the sitting president. That also would be in line with how the Supreme Court ruled in the immunity case, lots of

protection for the core acts of a president, but not for candidates or people who are seeking personal benefit. Okay, I see. I understand that Trump has already pleaded not guilty to these charges, so what are you watching for next? You know, normally there's an arraignment on these kinds of new charges. Prosecutors say they will not demand Donald Trump show up in person for that. DOJ and Trump's lawyers already had a deadline of Friday to update the trial judge about next steps in this case. We may get more detail by the end of the week. And really, there's no chance Trump would have faced trial before the election.

If he wins in November, he could order the DOJ to dismiss the case. If he loses at the ballot box, all this legal wrangling could get even more intense. Some former prosecutors anticipated the new charges would come and add new defendants. That hasn't happened yet, but it could next year. That is NPR's Kari Johnson. Thank you so much, Kari. My pleasure. Thanks for listening to Trump's Trials from NPR.

Keep an eye out for more episodes like this whenever big news happens. I'm Scott Detro. Here at Shortwave Space Camp, we escape our everyday lives to explore the mysteries and quirks of the universe. We find weird, fun, interesting stories that explain how the cosmos is partying all around us. From stars to dwarf planets to black holes and beyond, we've got you. Listen now to the Shortwave podcast from NPR. This summer on Planet Money, we're bringing you the entire history of the world.

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