US district judge Aileen Cannon rejects Trump’s bid to dismiss classified documents case because of Presidential Records Act

US District Judge Aileen Cannon on Thursday denied a motion filed by former President Donald Trump seeking to dismiss the criminal charges against him in his classified documents case. 

Trump, 77, had argued that under the Presidential Records Act of 1978 he had the authority to designate sensitive documents as his personal property after leaving the White House.

Cannon ruled that “the Presidential Records Act does not provide a pre-trial basis to dismiss” the 40 charges against the former president. 

She further noted that prosecutors “make no reference to the Presidential Records Act” in the indictment against Trump and did not “rely” on the post-Watergate law to bring charges.

Her three-page order, however, left the possibility open for Trump to use the Presidential Records Act to defend himself at trial. 

Cannon slammed special counsel Jack Smith’s demand that she make a ruling on whether Trump can use the legal theory as part of his defense in the West Palm Beach, Fla., federal court, calling it “unprecedented and unjust.”

The Trump-appointed judge said at a March 14 hearing that the Presidential Records Act argument may have “some force” as a defense at trial. 

Smith’s demand came after the judge ordered both the defense and prosecution to submit proposals for jury instructions in the case. 

Smith argued in a Tuesday filing that the president has no authority to hoard classified material under the Presidential Records Act, and that the law had “no bearing” on Trump’s alleged retention of “national defense information.”

He accused Cannon of basing her request for jury instruction related to the act on a  “fundamentally flawed legal premise” that would “distort” the trial if allowed to stand. 

Smith suggested he would file an appeal to a higher court if Cannon “intends to include the PRA in the jury instructions.”

Trump was indicted in the classified documents case last year. 

He faces 40 counts of willfully retaining classified material and obstructing justice by misleading federal authorities and his own attorneys when the material was sought.

Trump is scheduled to stand trial on July 8.