A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The Justice Department has obtained a new indictment in the federal election interference case against former President Donald Trump.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The move comes weeks after the Supreme Court gave the former president substantial immunity from prosecution.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson has been following the case. Carrie, so why are we seeing a new indictment against Donald Trump?
CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE: The core charges in this D.C. case are the same - conspiracy to defraud the United States and to deprive millions of 2020 voters of their rights. But some key specifics are different. And that's because of the landmark Supreme Court decision last month that gave Trump and future presidents a lot of leeway to use their official powers. The special counsel, Jack Smith, said in court papers that this latest action was really an effort to respect and implement the Supreme Court holdings.
MARTÍNEZ: So you mentioned some specifics are different. So what's new in this indictment?
JOHNSON: The single biggest change is that allegations about Trump misusing the Justice Department to try to promote his bogus claims of election fraud - those are now gone, and so is the Trump official who allegedly tried to carry out those efforts inside the Justice Department. That's a lawyer named Jeffrey Clark. He had been listed as co-conspirator No. 4, but now all the alleged co-conspirators are people who did not work in the Trump administration at the time and people who were acting in a private capacity. That's important because the ruling by the conservative Supreme Court specifically gave a president a lot of power over the Justice Department.
These new charges also specify when prosecutors think Trump was acting as a candidate, as a person seeking political office, and not as the president. That too would be in line with how the Supreme Court ruled in the immunity case - lots of protection for the core acts of a president, but not for candidates or people seeking personal benefit.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. Now, Trump has already pleaded not guilty to these charges. So what happens now?
JOHNSON: Normally, there's an arraignment on these kinds of new charges, but prosecutors say they are not going to demand that Trump show up in person for that. The Justice Department and Trump's legal team already had a deadline on Friday to update the trial judge in this case about how they wanted to proceed. For his part, Trump posted on social media, these charges are ridiculous and that it's an effort to resurrect a dead witch hunt. After that Supreme Court decision last month, there's no chance that Donald Trump would have faced trial before the election. If he wins in November, he could order the DOJ to dismiss this case. But if he loses at the ballot box, all this legal wrangling could get even more intense. And some former prosecutors anticipated these new charges in interviews with me, but they told me weeks ago they thought the Justice Department might add some new defendants. That did not happen this time, but it might if the case survives into next year.
MARTÍNEZ: One more thing, Carrie - there's been some action in the other case that Jack Smith filed against Donald Trump, this one in Florida. What's happening with that?
JOHNSON: Yes, Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed by Trump, dismissed that entire classified documents case. She said the way the Justice Department appointed the special counsel, Jack Smith, was unconstitutional. So she threw out the whole case, the one that accused Trump of stockpiling classified documents at his Florida resort and refusing to return them to the FBI. This week, prosecutors offered new details about their appeal. They told the 11th Circuit Appeals Court Judge Cannon had gotten the law wrong again and again. They said there's a 150-year tradition of appointing special prosecutors by the Justice Department. And they said that now conservative Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanagh called it a deeply rooted tradition.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson. Carrie, thanks for sorting this out.
JOHNSON: My pleasure.
MARTÍNEZ: In addition to Trump's legal woes, his visit to Arlington National Cemetery did not go as planned.
MARTIN: Trump attended a ceremony honoring 13 troops killed in Afghanistan in 2021. And although Trump campaign officials deny this, NPR's Quil Lawrence has learned that some staffers with the Trump campaign did not follow an agreement made with Arlington officials. Political activity is illegal at the cemetery, and what followed was an altercation between two Trump campaign staffers and an official at Arlington trying to enforce the rules.
MARTÍNEZ: Quil Lawrence is here now. Quil, tell us what happened. What'd you find out?
QUIL LAWRENCE, BYLINE: Yeah, Arlington Cemetery officials had made their rules clear in advance of the visit, specifically that only an official cemetery photographer would be allowed in Section 60. And that's where U.S. fallen from Iraq and Afghanistan are mostly buried. When Trump's motorcade arrived, along with some Gold Star family members whose loved ones are buried there, the campaign tried to bring a staffer to film and take photographs into Section 60. And an Arlington Cemetery official tried to prevent that, and she was verbally abused and pushed aside. At least one of those photos has been distributed, showing the former president and the Gold Star family members next to a tombstone in Section 60.
MARTÍNEZ: Ah, OK. So what has the Trump campaign said about this?
LAWRENCE: Spokesman Steven Cheung sent us a statement saying, quote, "there was no physical altercation, as described, and we are preparing to release footage if such defamatory claims are made. The fact is that a private photographer was permitted on the premises, and for whatever reason, an unnamed individual, clearly suffering from a mental health episode, decided to physically block members of President Trump's team during a very solemn ceremony." The Trump campaign would not provide us with that video they say they have.
MARTÍNEZ: Have we heard from Arlington National Cemetery about this?
LAWRENCE: Yes, last evening, an Arlington official provided this statement to NPR. "Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army national military cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes or in direct support of a partisan political candidate's campaign. Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants. We can confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed." That's the end of their quote. But I should add that, you know, the staff at Arlington see themselves as guarding some of the most hallowed ground in this country.
MARTÍNEZ: Sure, sure. Quil, what's the background here? Why was Donald Trump even attending this ceremony?
LAWRENCE: So it was the third anniversary of a suicide bombing attack that killed 13 U.S. troops and more than 100 Afghan civilians desperately trying to flee Kabul in the mess that was the American pullout in 2021. Former President Trump has been blaming President Biden and Vice President Harris more recently for the decisions on Afghanistan. And Trump was invited to attend a wreath-laying there. Many of the families of troops killed that day have publicly blamed Biden for the chaotic withdrawal.
You know, Trump has a controversial history with comments about disabled veterans, though, and about fallen soldiers. Some of his former staff have said Trump called fallen World War II troops losers and suckers for fighting and dying when they had no personal gain at stake. Trump denies these comments, but even this year, he mocked the late John McCain for not being able to raise his arms fully. You know, McCain was permanently disabled from his time as a prisoner of the war in Vietnam. And just this month, he compared a Republican megadonor he'd given the Presidential Medal of Freedom to with recipients of the Medal of Honor, many of whom are buried there at Arlington.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR's Quil Lawrence. Quil, thank you for your reporting on this.
LAWRENCE: Thanks.
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MARTÍNEZ: Olympic fever continues.
MARTIN: Over the next week and a half, about 4,400 athletes will compete in nearly 200 events during the Paralympic Games that begin tonight in Paris.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR's Becky Sullivan will be following it all. Becky, the opening ceremony is tonight. What should we expect over the next couple of weeks?
BECKY SULLIVAN, BYLINE: You know, it will be so much more of what was fun a few weeks ago - just amazing athletic feats, more incredible Paris scenery. But this time, obviously, the thousands of athletes who are participating have all overcome some, you know, tremendous challenge in their life, whether it's amputation of their limbs or disease taking away their eyesight. And so in doing so, it'll be even more amazing to watch them compete.
There's 22 different sports in the Paralympics, most of which have an Olympic equivalent, so it should be familiar to watch for any first-time viewers. And a lot of the events like track and swimming races have a bunch of iterations. And so there'll be 100-meter race for runners with one amputated leg, one for runners with two, others for runners with visual impairment, et cetera. So lots of events in total to watch.
MARTÍNEZ: Hey, Becky, it's all sports. It's more sports. I'm all in no matter what.
SULLIVAN: I know.
MARTÍNEZ: So how much interest is there in the Paralympics this year?
SULLIVAN: You know, usually, there is a bit less for the Paralympics than for the Olympic games, but the goal is always to have them be the same, have them be as close as possible. So organizers in Paris report that about 2 million tickets have been sold so far, which is on track for the second-highest total ever. And then on TV, of course, NBC saw it had massive viewership jump for the Olympics during the Summer Games, and so obviously, they're hoping to see the same for the Paralympics. There will be less of it on TV, but still all of it will be streaming, too.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. The U.S. dominated at the Olympics, so how do you think Americans will do at the Paralympics?
SULLIVAN: You know, the Americans aren't quite the powerhouse at the Paralympics that they are at the Olympic Games. And they used to totally dominate but now haven't for quite some time. And so China is the dominant force when it comes to the Summer Paralympics. They regularly top the medal table. Events like wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby are where the U.S. has an edge. The U.S. is sending more than 200 athletes, so there are a lot of opportunities here, but I do think that aiming to beat China in the medal count is probably out of reach.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. And you're so right about the personal stories that we hear at the Paralympics. I mean, we hear that at the Olympics as well.
SULLIVAN: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: But this one has just an added layer. What are some of the things that you're going to be keeping your eye on?
SULLIVAN: You know, there are - like you say, I mean, there's just so many amazing stories here. Truly, I was trying to come up with - decide which one to talk about this morning. I can't name them all, but here, I'll just pick one. Her name is Ali Truwit. She's a 24-year-old swimmer from Connecticut. She had been a competitive swimmer all her life. She graduated last year from Yale. And then a few days after graduation, she went on a trip with some friends to the Caribbean Sea. And she was snorkeling when she was bitten by a shark and had to have her left leg amputated below the knee.
That was just over a year ago. This summer in Paris, she'll be competing in three different swimming events. And I think it's just amazing because it would be understandable, you know, to have been bitten by shark to be - you know, you might be scared to get back in the water, even when it's just a pool, after something like that, but she went through therapy, was able to physically recover and get back up to competitive form. And now she's totally reclaimed that space for herself in the pool.
MARTÍNEZ: I was trying to do the physical rehabilitation math that you were describing there. That is amazing. That is...
SULLIVAN: It's incredible.
MARTÍNEZ: ...Absolutely amazing. Yeah. I can't wait to see that. NPR sports correspondent Becky Sullivan. Becky, thanks.
SULLIVAN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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