Smith’s Next Move: Can Trump Indictment Be Amended After Supreme Court Ruling?

So, it seems that the Department of Justice’s special counsel, Jack Smith, may still have a shot at moving forward with Trump case.

And this is despite a recent setback from the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Court ruled that former presidents have immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts.

Now, Barbara McQuade, current MSNBC legal analyst, has chimed in on the situation.

Seems she wants to give some tips to her fellow Democrat.

She told the hosts of The Weekend that she’s not sure if Smith will be able to wrap up his case against Trump before the election.

Looks like the legal saga continues, folks.

Newsweek reports:

Department of Justice’s (DOJ) special counsel Jack Smith can still help move Donald Trump’s federal election interference case along by amending the former president’s indictment after a U.S. Supreme Court setback, former U.S. attorney Barbara McQuade said on MSNBC on Saturday.

In a 6-3 decision on Monday, the Court ruled that former presidents have immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts, but not for unofficial acts. The decision came more than nine weeks after Trump, the presumed 2024 GOP presidential nominee, brought his presidential immunity case before the justices.

McQuade, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan who is also a legal analyst for MSNBC, told the hosts of The Weekend on Saturday morning that she is unsure if Smith will complete his case against Trump before this year’s election.

“It is not just the defendant, it is also the public that has a right to a speedy trial,” she said. “And so, I think the more progress [Smith] can make before a [potential] president-elect Donald Trump goes into office, the more he can do at the other end. Certainly, the things that have been deemed official acts, such as Donald Trump’s interaction with the Justice Department are going to go by the wayside. Jack Smith has the option of amending the indictment.”

McQuade was referring to when Trump allegedly pushed his DOJ officials to conduct investigations into his 2020 election fraud claims, despite there being no evidence of such claims.

The legal analyst continued: “You don’t have to go back to a grand jury to remove things from an indictment where they already found probable cause. So, he can pare this down to just those acts he believes are [un]official acts. Certainly, it will be litigated, but the public will have an opportunity to see what the unofficial acts were: organizing false slates of electors, pressuring state officials to flip the outcome of the election and exploiting the chaos at the Capitol on January 6 to try to press legislators to delay the certification.”

In the aftermath of his 2020 election loss, Trump went through the court system, which rejected his cases to overturn the results. The former president also allegedly tried to change the results of the election through illegal means. In Georgia, Trump is currently facing charges, along with other co-defendants, for allegedly conspiring to overturn the state’s election results after Joe Biden’s razor thin win among voters in the state. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and claims the case is politically motivated.

After SCOTUS ruling on presidential immunity, I can see 60% of the federal criminal case against Trump going forward to trial, though only after significant delay. In this new piece for @Bloomberg, I show my math. https://t.co/Eu4OaXwyzF

— Barb McQuade (@BarbMcQuade) July 3, 2024