Trump hit with revised charges, cemetery complaint

What happened

Special counsel Jack Smith filed a revised indictment that a new grand jury handed down accusing Donald Trump of plotting to overturn his 2020 election loss. The superseding indictment "reflects the government's efforts to respect and implement" the Supreme Court's ruling in July that granted Trump broad immunity for official acts as president, Smith's office said. Separately, Arlington National Cemetery confirmed that an "incident" had taken place during Trump's visit this week, and "a report was filed."

Who said what

Smith "isn't acting too rattled" by the Supreme Court's immunity decision, David Graham said at The Atlantic. His new indictment is a "little more concise and changes some language, but it keeps the same four felony charges and most of the same evidence" while removing all references to Trump's "attempt to involve the Justice Department in his subversion" and excising his conversations with federal officials.

The Arlington "incident" involved a "verbal and physical altercation" between two Trump campaign staffers and a cemetery official who tried to stop them from "filming and photographing in a section where recent U.S. casualties are buried," NPR said. Without addressing specifics, Arlington said "all participants" had been advised beforehand that "federal law prohibits political campaigns or election-related activities" inside the cemetery, including photographers supporting a "partisan political candidate's campaign." Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said "there was no physical altercation as described" but an "individual clearly suffering from a mental health episode decided to physically block" Trump's team.

What next?

Smith's team and Trump's lawyers have until Friday to "propose next steps to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan" before a Sept. 5 hearing, Politico said. Even if Chutkan agrees that Smith's revisions pass muster, "any decision she makes will likely be subject to appeal," The Atlantic said, so the fate of this case, too, rests with the outcome of the presidential election. 

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