Former President Donald Trump and his co-defendant Walt Nauta on Monday night laid out some of the legal attacks they’ll potentially launch against charges related to the alleged mishandling of classified information brought against them by special counsel Jack Smith.
The defendants argue the charges will give rise to “unprecedented” pre-trial disputes that will require US District Judge Aileen Cannon to weigh in on legal questions that have likely never been put before a court before.
The defense also suggests it won’t be possible to seat a fair jury while the presidential campaign is underway – a hint that Trump may ultimately ask for a post-election trial date, though Monday’s filing did not propose any specific schedule.
“This extraordinary case presents a serious challenge to both the fact and perception of our American democracy,” Trump’s and Nauta’s legal teams wrote in the joint filing. “The Court now presides over a prosecution advanced by the administration of a sitting President against his chief political rival, himself a leading candidate for the Presidency of the United States.”
The special counsel wants the case to go to trial in mid-December. Trump and Nauta have pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include obstruction-related allegations in addition to the accusations that Trump illegally retained national defense information.
Here are some of the pre-trial issues Trump and Nauta may raise in the case:
Trump and his allies have claimed that the Presidential Records Act – passed after the Watergate scandal to dictate how a former president is obligated to turn over records from his or her administration upon their departure from the White House – actually shields his alleged behavior.
Not surprisingly, his lawyers say they’ll pursue that argument in a motion to dismiss the…
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