In a ruling Thursday, U.S. District Judge Eileen Cannon denied former President Donald Trump’s request to dismiss the documents lawsuit.
Trump’s team had argued that the Presidential Records Act trumps the Espionage Act with regard to classified documents taken to Mar-a-Lago after leaving office, but Cannon said that’s why he decided not to pursue the lawsuit. Rejecting the request to dismiss, he wrote: “The Presidential Records Act provides no basis for pretrial dismissal.”
Ms. Cannon also defended herself from attacks from Special Counsel Jack Smith, who harshly criticized the requests she made to both parties. He argued that the judge’s request accepts Trump’s view of the Presidential Records Act, which allows government documents to be considered “private.”
Mr Smith called Mr Cannon’s understanding of the case “fundamentally flawed” and threatened to seek a review from the Court of Appeal.
Cannon said in his filing that his request “should not be misconstrued as declaring a final definition of the material elements or asserted defenses in this case.”
She said this was “a genuine attempt, in the context of the upcoming trial, to better understand the competing positions of the parties and the questions that should be posed to the jury in this complex case where first impressions are so dependent.” ” he wrote.
Smith has charged President Trump with more than 40 counts of obstruction of justice for allegedly storing classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after he left office and for allegedly trying to hide them after authorities sought their return. He is being prosecuted.
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