ROME, GEORGIA – MARCH 09: Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump leaves the stage a the conclusion of a campaign rally at the Forum River Center March 09, 2024 in Rome, Georgia. Both Trump and President Joe Biden are holding campaign events on Saturday in Georgia, a critical battleground state, two days before the its primary elections. A city of about 38,000, Rome is in the heart of conservative northwest Georgia and the center of the Congressional district represented by Rep. Majorie Taylor Green (R-GA). (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)Chip Somodevilla via Getty ImagesFORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — Donald Trump arrived Thursday at a federal courthouse in Florida, where a judge will hear arguments on whether to dismiss the criminal case accusing the former president of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate after he left the White House.The motorcade carrying the 2024 Republican presumptive presidential nominee arrived shortly before the hearing was set to begin before U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump.Advertisement
The dispute centers on the Trump team’s interpretation of the Presidential Records Act, which they say gave him the authority to designate the documents as personal and maintain possession of them after his presidency.Special counsel Jack Smith’s team, by contrast, says the files Trump is charged with possessing are presidential records, not personal ones, and that the statute does not apply to classified and top-secret documents like those kept at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.The Presidential Records Act “does not exempt Trump from the criminal law, entitle him to unilaterally declare highly classified presidential records to be personal records, or shield him from criminal investigations — let alone allow him to obstruct a federal investigation with impunity,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing last week.It was not clear when Cannon might rule, but the outcome will determine whether the case proceeds or whether, as Trump’s lawyers hope, it is thrown out before ever reaching a jury — a rare action for a judge to take.Advertisement
Cannon is also expected to hear arguments Thursday on a separate but related Trump team motion that says the statute that forms the bulk of the criminal charges — making it a crime to willfully retain national defense information — is unconstitutionally vague as it applies to a former president.It is not surprising that defense lawyers are seeking dismissal of the case based on the Presidential Records Act given that the legal team has repeatedly invoked the statute since the FBI’s August 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago.The law, enacted in 1978, requires presidents upon leaving office to transfer their presidential records to the U.S. government for management — specifically, the National Archives and Records Administration — though they are permitted to retain personal records, including diaries and notes that are purely private and not prepared for government business.Trump’s lawyers have said that he designated as personal property the records he took with him to Mar-a-Lago, w …
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The dispute centers on the Trump team’s interpretation of the Presidential Records Act, which they say gave him the authority to designate the documents as personal and maintain possession of them after his presidency.Special counsel Jack Smith’s team, by contrast, says the files Trump is charged with possessing are presidential records, not personal ones, and that the statute does not apply to classified and top-secret documents like those kept at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.The Presidential Records Act “does not exempt Trump from the criminal law, entitle him to unilaterally declare highly classified presidential records to be personal records, or shield him from criminal investigations — let alone allow him to obstruct a federal investigation with impunity,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing last week.It was not clear when Cannon might rule, but the outcome will determine whether the case proceeds or whether, as Trump’s lawyers hope, it is thrown out before ever reaching a jury — a rare action for a judge to take.Advertisement
Cannon is also expected to hear arguments Thursday on a separate but related Trump team motion that says the statute that forms the bulk of the criminal charges — making it a crime to willfully retain national defense information — is unconstitutionally vague as it applies to a former president.It is not surprising that defense lawyers are seeking dismissal of the case based on the Presidential Records Act given that the legal team has repeatedly invoked the statute since the FBI’s August 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago.The law, enacted in 1978, requires presidents upon leaving office to transfer their presidential records to the U.S. government for management — specifically, the National Archives and Records Administration — though they are permitted to retain personal records, including diaries and notes that are purely private and not prepared for government business.Trump’s lawyers have said that he designated as personal property the records he took with him to Mar-a-Lago, w …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]