Judge denies Trump bid to dismiss classified documents case using Presidential Records Act
A judge Thursday denied former President Donald Trump's bid to dismiss a case alleging he mishandled classified documents, rejecting his argument that the papers were considered personal under the Presidential Records Act.
A judge Thursday denied former President Donald Trump's bid to dismiss a case alleging he mishandled classified documents, rejecting his argument that the papers were considered personal under the Presidential Records Act.
The charges against Trump "make no reference to the Presidential Records Act, nor do they rely on that statute for purposes of stating an offense," U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon wrote.
"For these reasons, accepting the allegations of the Superseding Indictment as true, the Presidential Records Act does not provide a pre-trial basis to dismiss," the judge wrote, raising the possibility the defense argument could be used later.
Cannon had asked both sides to address the argument that the national security documents could be considered personal in proposed jury instructions, an argument special counsel Jack Smith's office argued was "fundamentally flawed." The judge said in her Thursday ruling that Smith's demand she decide the issue now is "unprecedented and unjust."
Cannon disputed that her order soliciting preliminary draft instructions was anything but "a genuine attempt, in the context of the upcoming trial, to better understand the parties’ competing positions and the questions to be submitted to the jury in this complex case."
Rating: 5