By ERIC TUCKER (Associated Press)
WASHINGTON (AP) — On Thursday, a federal judge declined to throw out the prosecution of Donald Trump over classified documents, rejecting the defense's claim that a law from many years ago allowed the former president to keep the records when he left office.
Trump's lawyers had referred to the Presidential Records Act of 1978 when requesting the case to be dismissed, arguing that he had the right to designate records from his time in office as personal and take them with him after leaving the White House.
However, special counsel Jack Smith’s team, representing the prosecutors, strongly disputed this argument, stating that the statute was not relevant to a case involving classified documents and Trump had no legal basis for holding onto top-secret information.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who presided over the arguments last month, rejected the Trump team’s claims in a three-order statement, emphasizing that the 40-count indictment against Trump did not mention the Presidential Records Act and did not rely on it for outlining an offense.
Cannon also defended her previous order, which requested both parties' lawyers to develop potential jury instructions and respond to two different scenarios related to Trump’s presidential records argument. This order faced criticism from Smith’s team, which described the premises she presented as “fundamentally flawed” in a recent filing.
Cannon clarified that her order for preliminary draft instructions on certain counts should not be misconstrued as a final definition of any essential element or asserted defense in the case. She highlighted that it was a sincere attempt to comprehend the parties’ differing positions and the questions to be presented to the jury in this unique case.
This latest ruling marks the second time in two months that the judge has rejected one of Trump’s attempts to terminate the case. In March, she dismissed an argument claiming that the statute forming the basis of most of the charges was unconstitutionally ambiguous, and therefore necessitated dropping the indictment.
Cannon has not yet made a decision on other motions from Trump to dismiss the case, including claims of presidential immunity protecting him from prosecution and being subjected to “selective and vindictive prosecution.”
