Revised election subversion charges present fresh challenge for Trump

Revised charges against former US President Donald Trump, over his alleged interference in the 2020 election, have presented a fresh hurdle on his path to re-entering the White House.

The justice department filed the new indictment against Trump, tailoring the charges to revoke a supreme court decision last month.

The supreme court had ruled that presidents enjoy broad immunity for official actions.

The justices also ruled that Trump has immunity over conversations with US justice department officials, but returned the case to the lower courts to determine the immunity of the other three categories.

Lawyers for Jack Smith, the special counsel handling the case, tailored the fresh charges to remove language that alleged that Trump used the justice department to promote his claims of electoral fraud.

“Today, a federal grand jury in the district of Columbia returned a superseding indictment, charging the defendant with the same criminal offenses that were charged in the original indictment,” the lawyers said in a filing that accompanied the indictment.

“The superseding indictment, which was 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 holdings and remand instructions in Trump v United States.”

The revised indictment lays out the same four criminal counts against Trump — which he denies — but they now relate to his status as a political candidate rather than a sitting president.

However, it appears unlikely that the case — and other criminal cases faced by the Republican candidate — will reach court before this year’s election on November 5.

Trump has repeatedly described the pile of cases against him as a “witch hunt”.

Kamala Harris, vice-president and Democratic nominee, asked citizens last week to “imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails and how he would use the immense powers of the presidency of the United States”.

Harris said the consequences would be serious.