Trump's Lawyers Want Classified Docs Case Dismissed

Legal team cites presidential immunity in calling for Mar-a-Lago case to be dismissed
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 23, 2024 12:22 AM CST
Trump's Lawyers Call for Another Case to Be Dismissed
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures at the National Religious Broadcasters convention at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn.   (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Former President Donald Trump's legal team filed multiple motions Thursday night urging a Florida judge to dismiss the criminal case charging him with illegally retaining classified documents, claiming in part that presidential immunity protects him from prosecution—an argument they have already submitted to the US Supreme Court in his election interference case, the AP reports. Lawyers Christopher Kise and Todd Blanche wrote that the charges "turn on his alleged decision to designate records as personal under the Presidential Records Act (PRA) and to cause the records to be moved from the White House to Mar-a-Lago." Since Trump made this decision while he was still in office, they wrote, it "was an official act, and as such is subject to presidential immunity."

Trump faces dozens of felony counts in federal court in Florida accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate and obstructing government efforts to retrieve them. The case is currently set for trial on May 20, but that date could be pushed back. Trump's lawyers also argued that Attorney General Merrick Garland's appointment of special counsel Jack Smith to investigate the former president was "unlawful" and grounds for dismissal of the documents case. Trump faces four criminal indictments in four different cities as he vies to reclaim the White House. The cases total 91 felony counts.

(More Donald Trump stories.)

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