Trump charged in superseding indictment in election interference case following SCOTUS ruling
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(WASHINGTON) — Special counsel Jack Smith has charged former President Donald Trump in a superseding indictment in his federal election interference case.
“Today, a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned a superseding indictment, ECF No. 226, charging the defendant with the same criminal offenses that were charged in the original indictment,” a Justice Department spokesperson said Tuesday.
“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,” the spokesperson said.
Trump last August pleaded not guilty to federal charges of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election to remain in power. Last month, in a blockbuster decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts undertaken while in office, and sent the case back to the trial court to sort out which charges against him can stand.
The superseding indictment retains the four original charges against Trump from the special counsel’s original indictment — but is pared down to adjust to the Supreme Court’s ruling.
While the original indictment laid out five ways Trump allegedly obstructed the function of the federal government — having state election officials change electoral votes, arranging fraudulent slates of electors, using the Department of Justice to conduct “sham” investigations, enlisting the Vice President to obstruct the certification of the election, and exploiting the chaos of the Jan. 6 riot — the new indictment removes mention of his use of the Department of Justice, which was explicitly mentioned in the Supreme Court’s ruling as falling within his official duties.
While the original indictment mentions the Justice Department on over 30 occasions, the new indictment makes no mention of the DOJ. It also reframes the portion of the original indictment outlining that Trump allegedly knew his claims of election fraud were false.
The superseding indictment identifies Trump as “a candidate for President of the United States … who was also the incumbent President” and says that he “had no officials responsibilities related to any state’s certification of the election results.”
The new indictment is 36 pages, while the original indictment was 45.
It comes just days after Smith, in a filing, urged the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a federal judge’s surprise dismissal of Trump’s classified documents case.
(NEW YORK) — After a top Hamas political leader was assassinated in Tehran last week, White House Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer said the United States is “preparing for every possibility” regarding potential retaliation from Iran.
“I won’t lay out what I expect Iran to do, because I don’t think we want to show our hand in that way,” Finer told ABC News “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos on Sunday. “But I will tell you, we’re preparing for every possibility just as we did in advance of April 13 when Iran attacked Israel, and the United States and a coalition of our partners and allies worked with Israel to defeat that attack.”
The Pentagon on Friday announced new defensive measures that it said in a statement were “designed to improve U.S. force protection, to increase support for the defense of Israel, and to ensure the United States is prepared to respond to various contingencies.” Those force posture adjustments include sending an additional fighter squadron and more warships into the Middle East.
Finer noted the action and said that, at the same time, the U.S. is “working very hard to de-escalate this situation diplomatically.”
When asked by Stephanopoulos if there are any back-channel conversations with Iran about how to contain the escalation, Finer was tight-lipped but said the U.S. is doing everything it can to make sure the conflict doesn’t expand.
“Part of what makes back-channel messages and conversations effective is that they need to stay private,” Finer said. “So I won’t speak to the details of the diplomatic activity that is underway other than to say in close coordination and conjunction with our Israeli allies and other partners and allies in the region. We’re doing everything possible to make sure that this situation does not boil over.”
President Joe Biden and other top administration officials are still pushing for Israel and Hamas to agree to a cease-fire to end the war in Gaza, launched shortly after Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
But concerns about reaching such a deal grew last week after both a Hezbollah commander, Fouad Shukr, and a top Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, were killed in separate incidents. Israel took responsibility for the strike that killed Shukr but has not said if it was also behind the attack that killed Haniyeh in Tehran, which Iran has blamed on Israel.
On “This Week,” Finer emphasized that achieving a cease-fire remains a top priority for the White House.
“Part of why we think this is so urgent is because in the context like this in which there are hostilities taking place throughout the region, there is always some outside factor that can intervene and interfere and make these negotiations harder,” he said. “So we want this deal to take place as soon as possible before that happens again.”
Turning to the historic 24-person prisoner swap last week that freed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and Russian American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, Finer said the freed Americans were “overwhelmingly happy” when they spoke to the president and their families upon touching down in Turkey on their return to the United States.
“The president and their families were gathered in the Oval Office and they showed just extraordinary strength,” Finer said. “It was quite a moving scene.”
In a separate “This Week” interview on Sunday, Wall Street Journal publisher and Dow Jones CEO Almar Latour told Stephanopoulos that he spoke to Gershkovich on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews and again over the weekend and that he “is doing well.”
“You saw a lot of energy when he got off that plane, and he still has a lot of energy,” Latour said.
When asked about the role the Wall Street Journal played in the negotiations, Latour said that “constant advocacy” was key.
“Our part was to make sure that there was constant advocacy with decision-makers, seen [and] unseen, getting public statements out there, but also, making sure people would see the suffering that the parents were going through, the assault on free press,” he said.
“The newsroom did its part in reporting and having the emotional support, putting a spotlight on it. But as a company, we wanted to get our guy back and we pushed really hard,” he added.
On Gershkovich’s request for an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which the reporter made in a statement for his clemency hearing, Latour said it showed that Evan’s journalistic spirit is not lost.
“He’s a journalist with a hunger for stories. He’s a storyteller,” he said.
“Boy, wouldn’t that be an amazing thing to see,” Latour added.
While the historic prisoner exchange has been met with a great deal of praise, several top Republicans have also criticized the deal, arguing that swapping innocent Americans for Russian criminals sets a dangerous precedent, which Finer pushed back on.
“We do not think that it is responsible or the right thing to do for American interests to leave those people in harm’s way,” he said Sunday. “So the president, from the moment he took office, has prioritized getting Americans who were in captivity when we came here out, and those who have been taken since, trying to free them, as well.”
“He makes no apologies for doing that,” Finer told Stephanopoulos.
(CHICAGO) — The final day of the Democratic National Convention wraps up with Kamala Harris’ big moment: her acceptance speech in which she gets to tell her story to the millions of Americans watching.
Her campaign says, in addition to describing her middle-class upbringing, she will continue to stress optimism and patriotism — the “politics of joy” — the overall themes we’ve heard throughout the gathering.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Harris, Emhoff wish each other happy 10th anniversary
Vice President Kamala Harris wished her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff a happy anniversary on Thursday ahead of her acceptance speech at the DNC. The couple are celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary.
“To the best partner I could ask for: Happy anniversary, Dougie,” Harris posted on social media, with a picture of the two visiting campaign headquarters in Wilmington the day after she announced her candidacy.
Earlier Thursday, Emhoff did the same, posting a slideshow of photos of himself and Harris.
“Ten years of marriage, forever to go,” Emhoff wrote. “Happy anniversary, @WRQ11HGNB. I love you.”
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow
Meet the oldest DNC delegate, Angie Gialloreto
Angie Gialloreto, 95, has attended every Democratic National Convention since 1976, when Jimmy Carter was on the ticket.
Since the 99-year-old former president could not attend this year’s DNC due to his health issues, Gialloreto is the oldest delegate to travel to Chicago, where she will watch Harris accept her party’s nomination.
The Pennsylvania native told ABC News the possibility that Harris could become the first woman to serve as president was a long time coming because women “have taken a back seat many years and now we’ll have a leader.”
When asked how she would celebrate if Harris ends up victorious during the November general election against Donald Trump, Gialloreto said she will focus on “getting ready for the next election of local candidates.”
-ABC News’ Morgan Gstalter
Walz meets with former students in Chicago
The morning after accepting his party’s nomination for vice president, Walz gathered in Chicago with former staff, family, friends and former students — including some of the football players who appeared on-stage Wednesday night at the United Center.
ABC News spotted Walz at a Chicago hotel on Thursday morning.
During that meeting, he mingled with several of his former Mankato West High School students over an informal breakfast, according to a source familiar with Walz’s movements. Some of those who met with Walz at the hotel were observed by ABC News donning “Harris-Walz Alumni” T-shirts.
Earlier in the day, Walz posted a video on X showing him hug and greet the students backstage at the convention.
-ABC News’ Lucien Bruggeman, Allison Pecorin and MaryAlice Parks
How Harris prepares for big speeches
Former campaign managers and senior staffers who worked Harris through the years shed light on how she prepares for big speeches.
They said she’s a trial lawyer at her core, and so preparation was key as well as being ready for audience reactions.
In crafting a speech, she would start with themes, outline and then focus in on what she wanted to say well in advance. She would be intimately involved in every speech, making edits and collaborating with those around her.
They said like most people she gets nervous, but would relax, review the remarks, save her voice, conserve energy and rest up.
-ABC News’ Zohreen Shah
What some of Chicago’s young voters think about the 2024 election
Three young voters — one liberal, one moderate and one conservative — discussed their thoughts on the 2024 election while in Chicago for the DNC.
-538’s Nathaniel Rakich
Trump to do live play-by-play of Harris’ speech on Truth Social
Former President Donald Trump said he will do a “LIVE PLAY BY PLAY on TRUTH Social” of Vice President Kamala Harris’s speech at the DNC Thursday night.
“We will start at 10 P.M., Eastern, and be covering and commenting on some of the earlier Speeches made, prior to hers,” Trump posted on his social media platform before going on to slam the dropout of President Joe Biden and saying he was going to “expose” Harris’ policies.
-ABC News Lalee Ibssa
Harris campaign dodges question on why there isn’t a Palestinian speaker at DNC
The Harris campaign at a briefing Thursday morning dodged a question from ABC News on why there isn’t a Palestinian speaker at the convention and why simply saying former President Donald Trump would be worse for Arab-Americans is not the campaign taking their votes for granted.
“No, we’re absolutely not taking their votes for granted,” campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said. “I think, as it relates to uncommitted delegates at this convention, we’re proud, glad that they are here. We’ve worked to engage them throughout the convention.”
Tyler noted a panel conversation that was held with members of the uncommitted movement and said Harris recently engaged with the movement’s leadership in Michigan. He also emphasized that the vice president is working toward a resolution to the Israel-Hamas conflict “with a permanent cease-fire that allows Israel to fully secure itself, that fully continues and make sure that we have full humanitarian aid, but also make sure that Gazans are able to peacefully live and prosper in Gaza.”
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim and Will McDuffie
12:58 PM EDT Gun control to be featured ahead of Harris’ remarks
Before Vice President Kamala Harris takes center stage Thursday night, gun violence survivors and gun safety advocates will address the DNC, according to Harris-Walz campaign spokesman Michael Tyler.
Former Rep. Gabby Giffords, Rep. Maxwell Frost and the “Tennessee Three” — state Reps. Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, are also expected to speak.
Tyler told reporters Govs. Gretchen Whitmer and Roy Cooper, Sens. Mark Kelly and Elizabeth Warren, and former Rep. Adam Kinzinger — a member of Jan 6. select committee — will give remarks too.
-ABC News’ Will McDuffie
10:11 AM EDT Kamala Harris to tell her personal story in acceptance speech
The fourth and final day of the Democratic National Convention is leading up to a dramatic finale: Kamala Harris giving her acceptance speech and getting to tell her personal story — in her own words — to an audience of millions.
She’s expected talk about a middle-class upbringing with a working mother. She will continue to stress the themes we’ve heard from speakers throughout the convention: optimism and patriotism — the “politics of joy” — drawing a contrast, her campaign says, with the “dark” vision of Donald Trump.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden said in an interview airing on Wednesday that, should his doctors tell him he had a “medical condition,” he would consider leaving office and turning over power to Vice President Kamala Harris in a second term.
It is his latest explanation of what might cause him to step aside as a growing number of Democrats pressured him to do so.
“If there had [muffled] some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if the doctors, came to me, said, ‘you got this problem and that problem.’ But I made a serious mistake in the whole debate, ” he told BET’s Ed Gordon n a preview clip of the interview set to air at 10 p.m. ET
The interview was done before the White House announced late Wednesday that Biden had tested positive for COVID-19, saying that his symptoms were mild.
Biden has now given several shifting reasons about what might make him decide to step aside.
He told ABC News in a July 5 interview after his poor debate performance debate that only the “Lord Almighty” might get him to drop out of the presidential race.
When ABC’s George Stephanopoulos asked, “If you can be convinced that you cannot defeat Donald Trump, will you stand down?” Biden answered, “Well, it depends on .. on if the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that, I might do that.”
In a news conference a week ago, he said he would stay in the race unless his aides told him he had no chance to win a second term.
“No, unless they came back and said, ‘There’s no way you can win.’ “No one is saying that. No poll says that,” Biden told reporters.
Also in the BET interview, Biden said, “When I originally ran, I said I was gonna be a transitional candidate, and I thought that I’d be able to move from this just pass it on to someone else. But I didn’t anticipate things getting so, so, so divided and quite frankly, and I think the only thing age brings a little bit of wisdom,” he said. “And I think I’ve demonstrated that I know how to get things done for the country, in spite of the fact that we [were] told we couldn’t get it done. But there’s more to do, and I’m reluctant to walk away from that.”
On Tuesday, he wholeheartedly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as not only a “great vice president” but so great that “she could be president of the United States,” he said while addressing the NAACP national convention in Las Vegas.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated, after the full interview aired, to reflect that Biden said he would consider stepping aside from a second term if he had a “medical condition.”
