In a recent development, Judge Aileen Cannon rejected former President Trump’s motion to dismiss the classified documents case, which was based on the Presidential Records Act. This decision comes after Trump’s legal team filed multiple motions to dismiss Jack Smith’s case in February.
Judge Cannon’s order, issued on Thursday, denied two of Trump’s motions to dismiss, stating that the allegations against Trump specified in the Superseding Indictment did not provide a pre-trial basis for dismissal under the Presidential Records Act.
Last month, Judge Cannon issued a jury instruction order for Jack Smith’s case, presenting two options for jury instructions regarding the categorization of records under the Presidential Records Act.
CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen commented on Cannon’s inclination to push the case to trial but expressed concerns about potential bias in the jury instruction options.
MSNBC’s legal reporter Jordan Rubin also noted Cannon’s actions, suggesting that her contemplated instructions could favor Trump’s case.
Jack Smith expressed intent to challenge the jury instruction order in the appellate court.
In response to Smith’s demands regarding the jury instruction order, Judge Cannon declined them, labeling them as unprecedented and unjust. She clarified that the order was not a final determination on any essential element or defense in the case but rather an attempt to address complex issues.
In a prosecution of a former president for allegedly retaining documents in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 793(e), a jury is permitted to examine a record retained by a former president in his/her personal possession at the end of his/her presidency and make a factual finding as to whether the government has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that it is personal or presidential using the definitions set forth in the Presidential Records Act (PRA).
The second option is:
A president has sole authority under the PRA to categorize records as personal or presidential during his/her presidency. Neither a court nor a jury is permitted to make or review such a categorization decision. Although there is no formal means in the PRA by which a president is to make that categorization, an outgoing president’s decision to exclude what he/she considers to be personal records from presidential records transmitted to the National Archives and Records Administration constitutes a president’s categorization of those records as personal under the PRA.
