A candidate, not a president: Jack Smith crafts a simple solution to Supreme Court Jan. 6 roadblock

[marmar]

A candidate, not a president: Jack Smith crafts a simple solution to Supreme Court Jan. 6 roadblock
A slight but substantive distinction about Trump’s role keeps the essential parts of the case alive

By Norman Eisen - Joyce Vance
Published August 30, 2024 5:45AM (EDT)


(Salon) The Supreme Court’s late-term decision recognizing a dangerously expansive immunity from criminal prosecution for former presidents effectively cut off any chance of the original indictment in the January 6 case against former President Donald J. Trump going forward. But for all its terrible flaws, the immunity decision left a path for Special Counsel Jack Smith to pursue a narrowed case that targets only conduct for which Trump is not immune. So Smith seized that opportunity by filing a superseding—or amended —indictment against Trump on Tuesday.

....(snip)....

In the superseding indictment, Smith retained all four charges in the initial indictment. But to comply with the Court’s decision, prosecutors trimmed certain factual allegations to ensure that those charges are predicated on conduct that is not shielded by immunity. In particular, they excised all allegations related to Trump’s interactions with the Department of Justice. Although those allegations involve a chilling abuse of power, the Court held that they constitute a core executive function for which presidents are absolutely immune.

As a result, Trump’s attempts to weaponize the Department of Justice to his own private ends are no longer part of the case. Gone is the allegation that he pressured the Department to release a letter falsely claiming that the election was marred by outcome-determinative fraud. Gone is the allegation that he sought to use the Department to press state officials to certify his electors, rather than those of President Joe Biden. And gone is the allegation that he attempted to install his now-excised co-conspirator, Jeffery Clark, as the Acting Attorney General to implement his scheme when other officials resisted.

....(snip)....

From the very first paragraph, the superseding indictment clarifies that Mr. Trump is being prosecuted for his conduct as a candidate, not as president. That distinction is essential because the lies Trump spread through his campaign as a candidate were not official acts of the office he sought. Similarly, organizing fraudulent alternate slates of electors bears no connection to any official responsibility of the president. Just like Biden and the Democratic Party organized their slates of electors, Trump and the Republican Party organized their own slates of electors. Both were the political actions of each respective candidate; neither constituted an official act. ..............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/08/30/a-candidate-not-a-president-jack-smith-crafts-a-simple-solution-to-jan-6-roadblock/

[orthoclad]

1. Significant win for the Right

All those DOJ moles are off the hook.