Trump's Trials - Judge denies one of Trump's motions to dismiss classified documents case

Episode Date: March 14, 2024

For this episode of Trump's Trials, NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with correspondent Greg Allen.Judge Aileen Cannon held a pre-trial hearing where Trump's defense team argued two motions to dismiss charges against the former president in the classified documents case. Judge Cannon quickly denied one of the motions but has yet to rule on the other. During the hearing she appeared skeptical of both arguments presented by the Trump team. Topics include:- Presidential Records Act - Espionage Act - Trump in attendance Follow the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for new episodes each Saturday.Sign up for sponsor-free episodes and support NPR's political journalism at plus.npr.org/trumpstrials.Email the show at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It's Trump's Trials. I'm Scott Detrow. This is a persecution. He actually just stormed out of the courtroom. Innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Today we have updates in Florida and New York. Let's start in Florida. Former President Trump appeared in federal court there today, where federal judge Eileen Cannon heard arguments over two motions to dismiss charges against him in that classified documents case.

Judge Cannon quickly denied one of Trump's motions but did not yet rule on the other. During the hearing, she appeared skeptical of both of Trump's arguments. A reminder, we are still waiting for Cannon to set a start date for that trial. And that brings us to the news out of New York. A quick update there before we turn back to Florida for the rest of the episode. So in New York, prosecutors in the Hush Money case, which again is supposed to start in a matter of weeks, they have now asked the judge for a 30-day delay,

citing new records provided to them by federal prosecutors who had previously investigated Trump's alleged hush money payments. This case is currently scheduled to start jury selection in less than two weeks on March 25th. We do not know if the judge will approve this delay. We do know a delay is sure to please Trump. So we'll keep an eye on whether that timeline in New York shifts.

We will let you know as soon as the decision is made. And in the meantime, stick with us through the break to hear everything that happened in that Florida federal courtroom today. This message comes from NPR sponsor Solgar. As people age, cellular function declines, which may impact changes in energy and strength. Solgar Cellular Nutrition is a holistic collection of cellular nutrients formulated to help fight cellular decline and promote cell health. Learn more at cellularnutrition.solgar.com. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

You're listening to Trump's Trials. I'm Scott Detrow. And now, here's Mary Louise Kelly. A federal judge has denied a motion by former President Donald Trump to dismiss the charges in one of the criminal indictments he's facing. This is the case in which he is charged with withholding and concealing classified and top-secret documents and then lying about it to investigators. U.S. District Judge Eileen Cannon heard two motions for dismissal at a hearing today in Fort Pierce, Florida. She dispensed with one of them hours later. And Pierce, Greg Allen was there and joins us now from Fort Pierce. Hey, Greg.

Hi, Mary Louise. Hey, so that was fast. What was this motion and why did the judge deny it? Right, well, there were two motions before the judge today. The one that Judge Cannon denied deals with a statute in the Espionage Act, which former President Trump's charged with. He's charged with violating that statute when he took boxes of classified documents to Mar-a-Lago when he left the White House. Trump's lawyers argued in court that the wording of the statute is unconstitutionally vague. Trump's lawyer, Emile Beauvais, said there are questions about what it means to have unauthorized possession. Trump, he argues, as president, could have given himself

authorization to take these documents. In their arguments for the court, prosecutors said the meeting of the statute is clear. They say the former president lost his authorization to look at classified material when he left the White House. Trump's lawyers also tried to make the point that the prosecution of their client is politically motivated. Beauvais cited other cases where President Biden, former Vice President Mike Pence, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were found to have taken documents. Prosecutors say in those cases, though, documents were quickly returned and there was no effort to hide them from investigators.

Judge Cannon was skeptical of the defense arguments in court. In just a couple of hours after the hearing, as you say, she issued an order denying it. And did she explain at all what her reasoning was? Well, in court, she was very skeptical, made the point that the claim of vagueness raised by Trump has come up in many other cases before and no court has ever found the statute unconstitutional. And she suggested the questions about whether Trump knew he wasn't authorized to take the documents or whether taking them could hurt national security raised factual questions that should be left to the trial. And that's basically what she said in her order that came

down a few hours later. She said, I'm quoting from the order, she said, rather than prematurely decide now, she said the court elects to deny the motion without prejudice to be raised as appropriate in connection with jury instruction briefing and or other appropriate motions. Okay. Let me turn you, we've said there were two motions to dismiss in play today. What about the second one? Right. Well, we haven't heard any action on that one yet, but in that motion, Trump's lawyers argue that the Presidential Records Act allowed the former president to take the boxes of documents to Mar-a-Lago. They say that law allows presidents to retain personal documents. And by taking them to Mar-a-Lago rather than sending them to the National Archives,

Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche said that Trump was effectively saying these are personal. Prosecutors rejected that argument, of course. The Presidential Records Act, they say, has nothing to do with this prosecution. The applicable law, they say, is that statute in the Espionage Act we just talked about. Plus, they say these are presidential, not personal documents, and prosecutors say Trump clearly knew that they were classified. Right, and that's important from a legal perspective, that he knew? Yes, the prosecutors will say they will show that Trump

willfully took the documents, even though he knew he couldn't legally do so because they were classified. And they cited in court today a conversation that he had with a publisher and a book author in 2021 when he showed them a copy of an attack plan for Iran. This has been reported on before. It is in the indictment. According to the conversation, Trump says, quote, see, as president, I could have declassified it. Now I can't. But this is still secret. And just in a sentence or two, Greg, do we know when this trial might actually begin?

No, it was scheduled for May, but it won't be till late summer. Maybe not until after the election, if the defense gets their way. All right. Thanks for covering all the action in the courtroom for us today. You're welcome. NPR's Greg Allen in Fort Pierce, Florida. Thanks for listening to Trump's Trials from NPR. Keep an eye out for more episodes like this whenever big news happens. And we'll be back later this week with our regular show on Saturday.

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