Judge denies Trump motion to dismiss classified-documents case

[March 15, 2024]  By Andrew Goudsward and Andy Sullivan

FORT PIERCE, Florida (Reuters) - A federal judge on Thursday denied former U.S. President Donald Trump's request to dismiss a criminal case that charges him with illegally holding onto classified documents after leaving the White House.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida came just hours after a hearing in which his lawyers argued that the central charge in the case is improperly vague.

Cannon, who was appointed to her post by Trump, ruled that question "warrants serious consideration" but should not be decided at this point.

Trump, the Republican challenger to President Joe Biden in the November election, has pleaded not guilty to a 40-count indictment that accuses him of illegally taking sensitive government documents with him when he left the White House in 2021.

It is one of four criminal cases he faces as he tries to win back the White House.

At the hearing, Cannon also indicated she was unlikely to agree to a separate request by Trump to dismiss the case on the grounds he had deemed the documents to be "personal" rather than government property. That issue could be addressed during the trial, she said.

"It's difficult to see how this gets you to dismissal of the indictment," she told Trump's lawyers.

Trump has filed a flurry of legal motions in his four criminal cases before the election. If he were to win back the presidency, he would have the power to end the two federal cases against him, though he would not be able to stop the two cases brought under state law.
 

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump is silhouetted as he waves inside a vehicle while departing the courthouse on the day of a hearing on a classified documents case, in Fort Pierce, Florida, U.S. March 14, 2024. REUTERS/Marco Bello

In this case, Trump's lawyers have made five other arguments for dismissal, which could be considered in future hearings that have not yet been scheduled.

The timing of a trial is uncertain. U.S. Special Prosecutor Jack Smith has sought a July start, while Trump suggested August even as he argued a trial should not happen before the election.

Trump's legal maneuvering has yielded some successes in other cases as well.

A federal case that accuses him of illegally trying to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden is on hold as the Supreme Court considers his argument that he cannot be prosecuted for actions taken as president.

An election subversion case in Georgia state court has been thrown into limbo as a judge considers whether to remove the lead prosecutor for having a romantic relationship with a subordinate.

Trump's trial in the fourth case in New York state, involving hush money paid to a porn star, was due to start on March 25 but could also be delayed.

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward in Fort Pierce, Florida, and Andy Sullivan in Washington; Editing by Scott Malone, Will Dunham, Jonathan Oatis and Daniel Wallis)

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