Trump classified documents judge rules on motion to dismiss case

The federal judge presiding over the classified documents case against former President Trump has denied a motion to dismiss some of the charges in the indictment. 

Trump’s legal team had sought to throw out more than a half dozen of the 41 counts in the indictment, which accuses the former commander in chief of illegally hoarding classified documents from his presidency and conspiring with others to conceal sensitive files from the federal government. 

The defendants had challenged counts related to obstruction and false statements, but U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon issued an order Monday saying that ‘the identified deficiencies, even if generating some arguable confusion, are either permitted by law, raise evidentiary challenges not appropriate for disposition at this juncture, and/or do not require dismissal even if technically deficient, so long as the jury is instructed appropriately and presented with adequate verdict forms as to each Defendants’ alleged conduct.’

Cannon did, however, agree to strike down a paragraph from the indictment that defense lawyers argued was prejudicial information that was not essential to the underlying charges.

Cannon has rejected multiple other motions already to dismiss the case, including one that suggested that the Presidential Records Act authorized Trump to keep the documents with him after he left the White House and to designate them as his personal files.

Monday’s motion to dismiss the half dozen counts in the indictment is one of multiple pretrial requests and disputes that for months have piled up before Cannon, slowing the progress of the case and delaying the trial. 

Additional arguments are scheduled for later this month.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.