Former President Donald Trump is facing a new indictment related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The revised charging document has some of his closest allies hoping to avoid professional and criminal consequences for their involvement nearly four years ago.
Special counsel Jack Smith has rewritten Trump's federal indictment following a ruling by the US Supreme Court that a president cannot be prosecuted for official acts while in office. The allegations against Trump have been narrowed, and references to communications between Trump and federal government officials have been removed.
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark are now looking to leverage the revised indictment to their advantage. While Trump is the only one charged in the federal case, several of his allies and former administration members are facing state-level criminal charges for their actions post-election, including Clark and Meadows. Additionally, Clark and others are also facing professional disciplinary proceedings that could impact their legal careers.
Meadows, in particular, could benefit from the new Trump indictment as he has been largely excluded from the document, except for some interactions with Trump regarding the former president's attempts to pressure the Georgia secretary of state into assisting with his election reversal efforts.