Donald Trump has asked a judge to drop federal criminal charges over his alleged mishandling of classified US documents after leaving the White House and obstructing the administration’s efforts to recover them, arguing that his actions were protected by presidential immunity.
The motion to dismiss, filed Thursday by the former president’s legal team in Florida, sets up a high-stakes ruling from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee who will decide whether the case brought last year by special plaintiff Jack Smith has been filed, may proceed. taste already on May 20th.
Trump argues in the filing that the case hinges on his decision at the end of his term to designate certain documents as personal under the Presidential Records Act. As such, he is protected by presidential immunity, the filing said.
“The alleged decision was an official act and as such is subject to presidential immunity,” his attorney Todd Blanche said in the filing.
The case is one of four criminal charges Trump is facing as he campaigns to return to the White House in the November election. His first criminal trial, alleging he falsified company records to conceal hush money payments to a porn star before the 2016 election, is set to begin March 25 in Manhattan.
The filing echoes immunity arguments Trump has already made before the U.S. Supreme Court, which is weighing his appeal of a ruling denying his request to dismiss a separate criminal case over his attempt to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election and his role in the attack. at the Capitol by his supporters. The Supreme Court can rule on his immunity claims at any time.
Smith, appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, alleges that Trump engaged in ruthless efforts to hide documents from authorities, instructing aides to move boxes of sensitive information at his Mar-a-Lago estate from a ballroom to a bathroom to transport a storage space. as his office. Trump reportedly shared classified documents freely and indicated he knew some were confidential.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges and claims all cases against him are part of a Democratic-led “witch hunt” to prevent him from returning to office.
Trump faced new obstruction charges in the dossier case last July, including allegations that he and two employees tried to delete Mar-a-Lago’s surveillance video footage. The revised indictment accused Trump of ordering employees to delete footage from a storage room where the documents were kept, days after his lawyers received a subpoena for such recordings.
In addition to Trump’s personal servant, Waltine “Walt” Nauta, the revised indictment added a third suspect to the criminal case: Trump maintenance worker Carlos de Oliveira. De Oliveira called Trump “the boss” and allegedly told another employee that “the boss” wanted a server from which the camera images had been deleted. It was not clear whether those recordings were actually deleted.
The two other defendants have also pleaded not guilty and are expected to file motions to dismiss the charges
First print: February 23, 2024 | 10:23 am IST