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Post by Webster on Apr 4, 2024 16:48:36 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Trump loses bid to dismiss classified documents case on personal records claimA federal judge has rejected Donald Trump’s motion to dismiss the criminal case over his retention of classified information because he viewed the material as his personal records. Trump faces 40 charges arising from his retention of classified information after leaving the White House and alleged obstruction of attempts to recover such records. He has pleaded not guilty.
Lawyers for Donald Trump had argued the criminal case charging him with retaining classified documents should be dismissed on grounds of presidential immunity, claiming they were his to keep because he designated them personal records while he was president. The decision to designate the documents as personal records under the Presidential Records Act meant it was an official act of his presidency for which he could not face prosecution, his lawyers said. Prosecutors working with the special counsel Jack Smith disputed the former president’s depiction of the records as personal. Trump was not authorized to hold on to secret information related to national security after leaving the White House even if he viewed the records as personal, they argued.
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Post by Webster on Apr 12, 2024 12:38:05 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Evan Corcoran, a longtime lawyer for Donald Trump, has reportedly quit the former president’s legal team and could now become an important witness for the prosecution in the federal criminal case against Trump for hoarding and hiding classified documents after he left office, CNN reported last night. The report calls it a quiet exit, in recent months, but a significant one, citing unnamed sources familiar with Trump’s legal circle. The outlet reports: Corcoran was brought on to help Trump fend off charges in the classified documents investigation, but instead turned into a central witness after Trump allegedly misled him about the whereabouts of the documents at his Mar-a-Lago club and encouraged him to lie to the justice department and withhold those documents.
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