Judge Dismisses Trump’s Claim under the Presidential Records Act

A federal judge on Thursday refused to dismiss the prosecution of classified documents against Donald Trump, rejecting defense arguments that a decades-old law allowed the former president to retain the records after leaving office.

Trump’s lawyers had cited the Presidential Records Act of 1978 in their request to have the case dismissed, claiming he had the right to designate records from his time in office as personal and take them with him when he left the White House.

Prosecutors from special counsel Jack Smith’s team disputed this argument, stating that the statute was irrelevant in a case involving classified documents and that Trump had no legal basis to hold onto top-secret information.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who heard arguments last month, denied the Trump team’s request in a three-part order. She noted that the indictment against Trump did not reference the Presidential Records Act and did not rely on it to establish any offense.

Cannon also defended her previous order asking both sides to prepare potential jury instructions and respond to scenarios related to Trump’s presidential records argument. The order was criticized by Smith’s team, who called the premises laid out in it “fundamentally flawed.”

Thursday’s ruling marks the second time in two months that the judge has rejected one of Trump’s motions to dismiss the case. In March, she dismissed an argument that the statute underlying most of the charges was unconstitutionally vague and required the indictment to be thrown out.

Cannon has yet to rule on other attempts by Trump to have the case dismissed, including claims of presidential immunity and allegations of “selective and vindictive prosecution.”