Trump lawyers to argue Florida judge should dismiss classified documents case

Attorneys for Donald Trump will argue in a Florida courtroom on Thursday to dismiss the federal criminal case involving his handling of classified documents on the grounds that the Presidential Records Act bars his prosecution.

FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Attorneys for Donald Trump will argue in a Florida courtroom Thursday to dismiss the federal criminal case involving his handling of classified documents on the grounds that the Presidential Records Act bars his prosecution. 

Trump’s legal team and prosecutors for special counsel Jack Smith are expected to argue their positions on whether all or some of the charges should be thrown out because of the 1978 law that governs the preservation of information during and following a presidency.

Smith has called on the judge overseeing the case to reject Trump’s claim that he should be shielded from prosecution because classified presidential records “can be transformed into ‘personal’” records by removing them from the White House. Trump has said that he designated the materials he took to Mar-a-Lago as personal records while still in office. A president's personal records are excluded from the act's requirements.

The sides will also discuss a second motion to dismiss the case on the theory that the main statute used against Trump is unconstitutionally vague as it applies to presidents and can’t be used against him. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges that he wrongfully held on to classified information after leaving the White House.

Presiding over the case is U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon. She has said that both sides should expect to spend the entire day in court. Trump’s lawyers indicated that he and his two co-defendants would attend the hearing in Fort Pierce, Florida.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-florida-classified-documents-dismiss-rcna143135

---