In the case involving Trump’s classified documents, the court postponed the hearing and put arguments for dismissal of the charges on the agenda.
The prosecutors and defense attorneys in the case involving classified documents against former US President Donald Trump are expected back in court on Wednesday. It is the first court date after the judge actually postponed the proceedings indefinitely. This is reported by the Associated Press news agency.
Trump’s trial, one of four criminal cases, was originally scheduled to begin on May 20. However, the responsible judge, Aileen Cannon, cited numerous questions that still needed to be clarified as the reason for canceling the appointment.
Judge Cannon was scheduled to review arguments on a motion filed by Trump on Wednesday. The former president is demanding that the charges be dismissed because, in his opinion, they do not clearly define the crime charged and instead represent “personal and political attacks” against him.
Special Prosecutor Jack Smith’s team, which presented the case, is expected to argue against this request. Trump himself is not expected to attend the hearing.
Also on the agenda Wednesday were arguments from a Trump co-defendant, his valet Walt Nauta, to dismiss the charges.
According to a recently released motion, Trump’s defense attorneys are seeking to exclude certain evidence from the trial. They are documents the FBI found in boxes while searching Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.
Defense attorneys claimed in their motion that the August 2022 search was unconstitutional and “illegal.” They argue that the affidavit submitted by the FBI as justification was distorted by misrepresentations.
Investigators disputed each of these allegations and defended their approach as “measured” and “graded.” They said they obtained the search warrant after collecting surveillance video that allegedly showed a deliberate effort to hide the boxes of classified documents on the property.