Jack Smith’s New Indictment Is ‘Slick Move,’ Former Trump Lawyer Says

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s decision to file an updated federal election subversion indictment against former President Donald Trump was a “slick move,” according to former Trump lawyer William Brennan.
Smith filed a superseding indictment in the federal election case on Tuesday, accusing Trump of the same four felony counts that he was indicted on in August 2023. The new indictment has been retooled to comply with the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity.
Brennan, who represented the Trump Organization in a tax fraud trial and the former president himself during his second impeachment trial, said during a CNN interview on Tuesday that Smith was smart to file an indictment that “streamlines” the charges against Trump.
“It’s not uncommon for a prosecutor to do this,” Brennan said. “It’s actually a smart move with the trouble that he’s having with the now-former indictment. He now supersedes, he streamlines, and he tries to take that indictment further.”
“It really is a smart move on Jack Smith’s part,” he continued. “Whether it will survive is unclear right now, but it really is a slick move.”
Brennan said that Trump’s current lawyers would likely argue that the new indictment was just a “shined up” version of the previous indictment while predicting that Smith’s failure or success would hinge on the latest document not clashing with the Supreme Court ruling.
“I think that the former president’s lawyers, who are all very competent, will file a motion saying, ‘we’ve basically got the same old indictment shined up purportedly as something new,'” said Brennan.
“It really probably will come down to whether or not what’s remaining in the superseding indictment is outside the perimeters…of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity,” he added. “That’s really where the rubber hits the road here.”
In response to a request for comment, Trump’s office pointed Newsweek to a series of Truth Social posts from the former president denouncing the new indictment and demanding that the case be dismissed on Tuesday.
Trump repeated familiar accusations that Smith was engaging in “election interference” by charging him with crimes while also claiming that the special counsel had been “illegally appointed.”
“In an effort to resurrect a ‘dead’ Witch Hunt in Washington, D.C., in an act of desperation, and in order to save face, the illegally appointed ‘Special Counsel’ Deranged Jack Smith, has brought a ridiculous new Indictment against me, which has all the problems of the old Indictment, and should be dismissed IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote.
“The whole case should be thrown out and dismissed on Presidential Immunity grounds, as already ruled unequivocally by the U.S. Supreme Court,” he added. “Smith rewrote the exact same case in an effort to circumvent the Supreme Court Decision.”
Newsweek reached out to Smith’s office via email for comment on Tuesday evening.
The Supreme Court’s decision, delivered in early July, did not grant Trump full immunity from prosecution. Instead, it gave any sitting U.S. president immunity when their alleged crimes were committed as part of specific official duties. The ruling did not give Trump or anyone else who has served as president immunity for unofficial acts.
The superseding indictment is nine pages shorter than the original document. Likely due to the Supreme Court ruling, the new indictment removes all mentions of Trump allegedly attempting to pressure the Department of Justice to falsely declare that President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win was the result of massive fraud.
Trump is still facing felony charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstructing an official proceeding, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against the rights of voters. The former president, convicted on 34 unrelated felony counts in New York in May, denies all wrongdoing.