A federal judge rejected a request by Donald Trump to dismiss his criminal case over the mishandling of classified documents and appeared skeptical during hours of arguments over a separate attempt to toss the case before trial.
Judge Aileen Cannon issued a two-page order noting that while Trump’s team had raised “several arguments that deserve serious consideration,” dismissing the charges was not warranted. The case involves boxes of documents, some highly classified, that Trump took to his Mar-a-Lago estate after leaving the White House.
Cannon, who was appointed by the former president himself, made clear during more than three and a half hours of arguments that she was reluctant to dismiss one of the four criminal cases against the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in this year’s election.
At one point during the arguments, she said dismissing the indictment would be “something difficult to see” and that it would be a “rather extraordinary” step to invalidate an Espionage Act statute underpinning most of the felony charges against Trump, which his lawyers argue is unconstitutionally vague.
Cannon’s ruling represents a modest victory for special counsel Jack Smith’s team, which, in addition to the classified documents case, is handling a separate case against Trump on charges that he conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
However, the ruling left unanswered questions about whether the case will go to trial and only addressed one of two motions argued in court on Thursday. A separate motion over whether Trump was allowed—under the Presidential Records Act—to retain the documents after leaving the White House remains pending, though the judge also appeared reluctant to dismiss the case on those grounds.
“It’s hard to see how this leads you to dismiss an indictment,” she told one of Trump’s lawyers.
Trump attended Thursday’s arguments, listening intently with his hands sometimes clasped in front of him at the defense table as his lawyers pressed Cannon to dismiss the case.
It was the second hearing held this month in the Florida case, which has moved slowly through the courts since prosecutors filed charges last June. Cannon heard arguments on March 1 about when to schedule a new trial date—initially set for May 20—but has yet to announce one or give any indication Thursday about when she might. Prosecutors have urged the judge to set a date for this summer. Meanwhile, Trump’s lawyers hope to delay it until after the November election.
Image: Voice of America
