At least for the time being, the judge supervising the case against Trump in which he is accused of accumulating classified documents at his Florida estate has denied his request to dismiss most of the charges against him on the grounds that he was entitled to retain them under a statute controlling presidential records.
But U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s three-page decision on Thursday allowed Trump to keep bringing that point up if the case goes to trial.
Cannon denied special counsel Jack Smith’s request that she quickly disclose her opinion on Trump’s assertion that the Presidential Records Act, a law enacted after Watergate to regulate White House records, may have given him permission to retain classified materials forever, even after he left office.
If Cannon decides to side with Trump on that legal matter, Smith’s team has criticised the notion, calling it “pure fiction,” and has urged her to give the prosecutors enough time to appeal.
However, Cannon referred to the prosecution’s request for her testimony on the matter as “unprecedented and unjust.”