The Indictment Against Trump for His Plot to Discard the 2020 Election
A 5-minute rundown of how he’s charged with obstruction
The original indictment (PDF), issued a year ago, is 45 pages. The superseding indictment (PDF), issued last month, is only 36 pages — shorter, though you’ll miss some of the juicy bits.
Always free to read! But if you haven’t had time, here’s a summary.
First of All: Why Was the Indictment Shortened?
The U.S. Supreme Court gave Trump immunity for “official acts”. Furthermore, it said that evidence based on “official acts” can’t be used in court to prove other misdeeds.
So, some allegations had to be removed from the original indictment.
Not because they didn’t happen (they did!).
Trump can’t be accused of any interaction, though it be criminal, that he had as President with Justice Department leaders — since, had he not been president at the time, he would not have had access to those people to have those conversations.
Thus, the special counsel stripped Trump’s conversations with Justice Department leaders from the superseding indictment.
