Donald Trump is effectively arguing that for as long as he’s running for president, he should be spared from standing trial over his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
In a fiery legal filing Thursday, special counsel Jack Smith showed he is wise to the attempt – the latest twist of an extraordinary saga caused by the unprecedented drama of the federal indictment of a past and possibly future president.
Trump’s arguments – effectively for an indefinite delay in the trial – are fueling an impression that the true goal of his 2024 bid is not to “save America,” as he tells supporters, but to save himself by thwarting a day of reckoning, perhaps forever, in the case over national defense information he kept after leaving office and stored at his Mar-a-Lago resort. In other words, his political strategy is doubling as a legal one as he seeks to recapture the White House despite the stain of dual impeachments and two criminal indictments.
Smith’s filing hit back at aspects of Trump’s call for a delay in the trial in a case in which he faces 37 counts, including charges related to his alleged willful retention of the material and alleged attempts to obstruct the investigation into the documents. Smith told US District Judge Aileen Cannon that Trump’s team had exaggerated the amount of evidence in the case and overstated the complications of using classified evidence. The special counsel also dismissed the argument of the former president and his co-defendant, aide Walt Nauta, that it would be impossible to seat a fair jury before the 2024 election since Trump is a candidate. Trump and Nauta have both pleaded not guilty in the case.
The robust counter-arguments came ahead of a hearing in Florida on Tuesday – the first before Cannon – at which lawyers will debate how to handle classified material during the trial.
It also…
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