Donald Trump and his attorneys took another stab at attempting to wholly dismiss one of his criminal trials on Thursday—except this time the judge heard them out.
Trump stayed surprisingly mum as his attorneys argued two motions before Judge Aileen Cannon at a Florida courthouse. In one, they claimed that it wasn’t clear at the time Trump took the sensitive material if the act was illegal or not. In the other, they argued that the classified documents could be considered “personal materials” rather than presidential under the Presidential Records Act.
The latter defense was roundly rejected by special counsel Jack Smith’s office, which pointed to a transcript of Trump’s own words in which the former president acknowledged the records definitely were not personal.
Cannon, meanwhile, described the argument as “forceful.”
“Your arguments might have some force, again, as it comes to a trial defense,” Cannon said, though she noted that the end result would effectively gut the statute and allow future presidents to designate obviously presidential documents as personal.
Altogether, Cannon appeared skeptical of the defense and its ability to dismiss the case outright, ultimately deciding that the issue would be better left for a jury to decide.
“It’s difficult to see how this gets you to the dismissal of an indictment,” the judge told Trump’s attorney Thursday afternoon.
It’s possible that Trump’s legal team knew these arguments wouldn’t work, but his legal strategy in every case against him has been to delay trial proceedings.
The day ended without an official decision on the matter. Cannon said she would consider the motions “under advisement” and would issue a ruling “promptly.” Some experts worry Cannon is dragging out the trial start date as much as possible.
