Posted on 03/14/2024 3:06:39 PM PDT by Coronal
FORT PIERCE, Florida, March 14 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday 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. 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
I have said it before, I’ll say it again. Selective prosecution. After the Espionage Act (EA) was passed in 1917, it was common for Presidents when they left office to retain and take with them all manner of official records including National Defense Information. They were still declassifying material from the Eisenhower library just a few years ago. This was one of the reasons the Presidential Records Act (PRA) was passed in the late 1970’s however there is no criminal penalty for violating the PRA.
Since no ex President has ever been prosecuted under the EA, it seems obvious that the authors of the EA and subsequent Government personnel did not believe that the EA applied to ex Presidents, especially since they traditionally retained authorization to view and possess National Defense Information and classified materials even once they were out of office.
Trump’s case appears to be the only time in US history that an ex President has been prosecuted for retention of National Defense Information despite previous Presidents also having those materials in their possession as civilians.
But it’s a drain financially for Trump having to fight.
The judge in the E Jean case made his summary judgements at the appropriate time?
Also if the second motion is a slam dunk why didn’t they make that the first motion?
Not to his pocketbook.
Most of his judicial appointments have come from GOP-h organizations. We just like to think that every judge will rule in Trump’s favor whether it’s worthy or not.
-PJ
I have a very different take on this.
By keeping the case in the news, she is helping DJT. Any publicity is good publicity. Every one of my friends will tell you the endless court cases has steeled their resolve to vote for Trump. His name is on the front page of newspapers where he could not buy a campaign ad.
Much closer to the election she will dismiss on “selective prosecution” grounds. With any luck Jack Smith is fired and prosecuted himself...
No wonder it was so crowded downtown today.
Are you trying to troll me? What does the Carroll case have to do with the Trump documents case in Florida that this thread is about?
Thread hijack?
-PJ
Spoken like the NeverTrumper you are!
Biden, Pence and Clinton all free.
What does it have to do with it? Timing. Team Trump wa asking for summary judgement to dismiss. He got a summary judgement in the E Jean case.
Dream on friend but fact are facts and it looks like the blackrobe club has it out for him. There will not be any dismissal etc. they want a circus they want chaos they want confusion they want his base demoralized they want his base angry. They want his base to commit another FAKE J6 insurrection to disqualify his certification by congress if he wins. Look around friend haven’t you noticed he hasn’t won a court case since he has been charged with all those frivolous fake cases! Tomorrow will be a disappointment too when Mcafee makes his ruling. Don’t count on him being the honest, clean cut judge. He’s the same as them …he belongs to the same club.
Love to know how many documents O has. Where is all that stuff he took for his library that doesn’t exist?
Facts are facts baby! I live in realville not hopefullyville.
This is likely true. I've long felt that if anything in this nation needed to be socialized, it is the legal system. Justice shouldn't bankrupt people who are innocent.
I think it is certain that McAfee will retain Fani. He has made all the concessions he will by throwing out three of the charges.
giving up is NOT fighting. woman up and quit repeating doom and gloom. it gets really old, really fast
Trump should gets these cases done. He said he has evidence that will prove his innocence. He’d be better off getting them done.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.