Lawyers for Donald Trump have filed multiple motions seeking a Florida judge to toss out the case against the former president charging him with illegally retaining classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, citing “presidential immunity” and the “unlawful” appointment of special counsel Jack Smith.
Attorneys Christopher Kise and Todd Blanche wrote that the charges “turn on his alleged decision to designate records as personal under the Presidential Records Act (PRA) and to cause the records to be moved from the White House to Mar-a-Lago.”
Since Trump made this decision while he was still in office, they wrote, it “was an official act, and as such is subject to presidential immunity.”
Trump faces dozens of felony counts in federal court in Florida accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach and obstructing government efforts to retrieve them. The trial is currently set to begin on May 20.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at the National Religious Broadcasters convention at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center on Thursday, Feb. 22, in Nashville, Tennessee. (AP/George Walker IV)
Trump’s lawyers also argued that Attorney General Merrick Garland’s appointment of special counsel Jack Smith to investigate the former president was “unlawful” and grounds for dismissal of the documents case, according to The Associated Press.
In a June 2023 indictment charging Trump, prosecutors allege investigators discovered boxes of sensitive documents stored in spaces in Mar-a-Lago including a bathroom and shower, Trump’s bedroom and a storage room.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
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An aerial view of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate is seen in August 2022 in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
Trump told Fox News Digital earlier this month that “deranged” Special Counsel Smith needs to “immediately” drop all charges against him in the case following the decision not to bring charges against President Biden for his retention of sensitive national security documents.
Trump has called Special Counsel Jack Smith “deranged.” (Getty Images)
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“They should immediately drop the case against me,” Trump said at the time. “I am covered by the Presidential Records Act — he wasn’t. He had many, many times more documents — totally unguarded. Mine were always surrounded by Secret Service and in locked rooms.”
Fox News’ Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.