Trump lawyers ask to dismiss case of classified documents due to presidential immunity

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s legal team filed multiple motions Thursday night urging a Florida judge to dismiss the criminal case accusing him of illegally withholding classified documents, arguing in part that presidential immunity It protects him from being prosecuted, an argument they already presented before the Supreme Court in a case for alleged electoral interference.

Attorneys Christopher Kise and Todd Blanche said the charges “revolve around his alleged decision to designate records as personal under the Presidential Records Act and have the records moved from the White House to Mar-a-Lago.” ”. Given that when he made the decision he was still in office, “it was an official act and, as such, is subject to presidential immunity,” they wrote.

Trump faces dozens of charges in federal court in Florida accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago mansion and hindering government efforts to recover them. The trial is scheduled for May 20, but could be delayed.

The lawyers also alleged that the appointment of special prosecutor Jack Smith by Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the former president was “illegal” and is the reason for dismissing the documents case.

Smith’s other case against Trump was uncovered in August when the former president was charged in Washington for working to overturn the results of the 2020 election before his supporters’ violent assault on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

That trial was scheduled for March 4 in federal court in Washington. But the date was canceled because of Trump’s appeal over the legally untested question of whether a former president is immune from prosecution for official acts performed in the White House. Trump’s legal team has asked the Supreme Court to intervene, but it is not clear if the justices will rule on the matter.

A June 2023 indictment charged Trump with dozens of felonies, alleging that investigators found boxes of confidential documents recklessly stored in various locations throughout the Mar-a-Lago home, including a ballroom, a bathroom and a shower, his bedroom and a storage room. The prosecution maintains that the documents that he kept, refused to return and that he sometimes showed to his guests, endangered not only relations with foreign nations but also the security of troops and confidential sources.

Trump faces four criminal charges in four different cities as he tries to return to the White House. In total, these processes involve 91 charges.