In new filing, Trump lawyers foreshadow potential lines of defense in classified documents case

WASHINGTON — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump foreshadowed elements of their defense in the criminal case that accused him of illegally keeping classified documents, saying in a motion filed Tuesday that they will dispute prosecutors’ claims that the estate where the documents were stored wasn’t safe.

The defense team also said in a lengthy court filing that they are seeking communications between the Justice Department’s prosecution team and associates of President Joe Biden, hoping to advance their claims that the case involving classified documents is “politically motivated” and intended to harm Trump’s interests. Campaign 2024.

The brief, which asks a judge to force special counsel Jack Smith’s team to turn over a trove of information, offers the most comprehensive view yet of possible lines of defense in one of the four criminal cases Trump faces as he tries win the Republican nomination. and regain the White House.

It offers a mix of legal analysis and political bombast that would be expected in the Trump team’s motions. For example, it points to Trump’s record victory this week in the Iowa caucuses and labels the allegations “partisan election interference” — well-known statements from the ex-president’s lawyers that appear designed to target voters on the campaign trail as well as the courts. to speak. chairman of the case.

“The Special Counsel’s Office has ignored basic discovery obligations and DOJ policy in an effort to support the Biden Administration’s blatant efforts to weaponize the criminal justice system in pursuit of a goal that President Biden cannot achieve during the campaign: the delaying President Trump’s leadership campaign in the 2024 presidential election,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.

Despite Trump’s repeated claims, there is no evidence of any coordination between the Justice Department and the White House, which says it had no prior knowledge of the FBI’s August 2022 search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, where dozens of secret documents were recovered. took with him when he left the White House. Attorney General Merrick Garland months later appointed Smith special counsel in a way to try to protect the Justice Department from claims of political bias.

A spokesperson for Smith declined to comment Tuesday evening. Prosecutors will have a chance to respond to the filing and will likely tell U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon that many of the substantive defense attorneys are seeking irrelevant to the case.

A June 2023 indictment accuses Trump of dozens of crimes, alleging that investigators recklessly stored boxes of sensitive documents at Mar-a-Lago in areas including a ballroom, a bathroom and shower, his bedroom and a storage room. Prosecutors have said the documents he kept, refused to return and in some cases showed to visitors jeopardized not only relations with foreign nations but also the safety of troops and confidential sources.

But defense attorneys said in their motion that they plan to dispute allegations that “Mar-a-Lago was not safe and that there was a risk that materials stored in those buildings could be compromised.”

They argued that prosecutors should be forced to make public any information related to what they previously described as “temporary secure locations” at Mar-a-Lago and other Trump properties. They argued that such evidence would refute prosecutors’ allegations because the Secret Service took steps to secure the homes and made arrangements for him to review and discuss classified information.

Trump’s lawyers also pointed to what they said was an action by the Energy Department in June, after the charges were filed, to “retroactively terminate” a security clearance for the former president.

They demanded more information on that, saying that evidence of post-presidential possession of a security clearance was relevant to possible arguments of “good faith and non-criminal states of mind regarding the possession of classified material.”

The case is currently scheduled for trial on May 20, but that date could be postponed.