Devendra Kumar
US District Judge Aileen Cannon has rejected former US President Donald Trump’s attempts to dismiss his criminal case involving classified documents, citing a lack of merit in his arguments. Trump’s lawyers argued during a lengthy hearing that the Presidential Records Act gave the former president the authority to retain sensitive records, including top-secret information and documents related to nuclear programs and military capabilities, as personal property.
They claimed that Trump was legally entitled to keep the records, despite prosecutors contending that they were clearly presidential and not personal in nature. However, Judge Cannon seemed skeptical of these arguments, noting that striking down a statute would be an extraordinary step and that a dismissal of the charges was not warranted.
Trump’s lawyers further argued that the statute making it a crime to have unauthorized retention of national defense information was too ambiguous and allowed for selective enforcement by the Justice Department. They pointed to a recent report by special counsel Robert Hur, which criticized President Joe Biden’s handling of classified information and did not recommend charges, as evidence of the lack of clarity in the law. However, Judge Cannon remained unpersuaded by these arguments, ruling that the case would move forward despite the various claims raised by Trump’s lawyers.
The case has unfolded slowly in the courts since prosecutors first brought charges last June, with no trial date yet set. Judge Cannon has given no indication on when she might set a trial date, and prosecutors are pressing for a summer trial date, while Trump’s lawyers are seeking to delay it until after the election. In her ruling, Judge Cannon acknowledged the unprecedented nature of the case, citing that no former president has ever faced criminal jeopardy for mishandling classified information. However, she also noted that Trump’s status as a former president does not entitle him to special treatment.
Trump is separately facing charges in a federal case in Washington for conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The charges brought against him involve his retention of classified documents, which he claims were his personal property and not subject to legal requirements for storing and handling sensitive information. Despite his claims, Judge Cannon has rejected Trump’s attempts to dismiss the charges, leaving the case to move forward in the courts.