March 14 (UPI) — Former President Donald Trump appeared in a Florida courtroom Thursday as his attorneys argued for the dismissal of criminal charges related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
Attorneys Todd Blanche, Chris Kise and Emil Bove argued that the charges should be tossed as “unconstitutionally vague.” They said Trump was allowed to retain the boxes of documents, including national defense secrets, because they are his “personal records” under the Presidential Records Act.
On the campaign trail as he runs for re-election, Trump has argued that he should be immune from prosecution and cites the Presidential Records Act as grounds for dismissing the case. However, the act states that the official records of the president and his staff are property of the United States, not the president.
Special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed to lead this case and the election interference case against Trump in Washington, attended the hearing.
The former president faces 40 charges for allegedly mishandling and illegally retaining classified documents. He is also accused of sharing national defense secrets with people not authorized to be privy to that information and directing others to destroy evidence and lie to officials.
His aide Walter Nauta has also been charged.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, has indicated that the scheduled start date for the trial, May 20, will be pushed back. She said in a hearing last month that a proposed start date of July 8 is likely too soon, due in part to the hush money case against Trump going to trial in Manhattan later this month.
The prosecution has suggested starting the trial on Aug. 12.
The defense went on to note other instances when government officials, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Joe Biden, were not prosecuted for their handling of classified documents.
On Tuesday, Robert Hur, the special counsel appointed to investigate Biden’s handling of classified documents, described the difference between Biden’s and Trump’s cases. He distinguished that Biden cooperated when the Justice Department sought to retrieve the documents, while Trump refused multiple opportunities to comply and avoid prosecution.
It was discussed during Tuesday’s House oversight hearing that presidents and vice presidents have been known to keep journals and records that include classified information among their personal effects when they leave office. Ronald Reagan’s diaries are a notable example.
Prosecutor Jay Bratt argued Thursday that the defense’s evocation of the Presidential Records Act is “premature” and Trump’s case is significantly different from other presidents.
“Even with other former presidents, there was never a situation remotely similar to this one,” Bratt said. “Not only is it premature, it never happened.”
Bratt cited a recording of Trump discussing some of the sensitive information with a staffer that was uncovered during the investigation. In the recording, Trump, while audibly shuffling through papers, acknowledges that the information is classified and “still a secret.”
