March 14 - Trump classified documents case updates

Lawyers for Donald Trump were in court today, arguing that the criminal case concerning the former president's handling of classified documents should be dismissed.

It is one of four criminal cases Trump faces, while he also juggles being the Republican presumptive nominee for president. The former president is now facing 88 charges over the four criminal indictments in Georgia, New York, Washington, DC, and Florida. Trump has pleaded not guilty to every charge in these cases.

Here's a recap of each case and where things stand:

Read more about the four criminal cases Trump faces.

In a separate case that Donald Trump is facing, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said it is willing to delay the former president's criminal hush money trial for up to 30 days, according to a court filing.

The trial is currently scheduled to start on March 25. The potential delay throws the date for what’s supposed to be the former president’s first criminal trial into question, a surprise twist that represents a major boost for Trump – whose defense teams have employed a strategy of consistently trying to delay all of his trials past the election.

Trump is facing criminal charges in four distinct cases, but until Thursday, the New York case was the only one with a clear trial date. The federal election subversion case is on hold until the Supreme Court hears Trump’s immunity claims next month, while Trump’s lawyers are pushing to delay his classified documents mishandling trial in Florida until August or even beyond the election.

And in Georgia, a judge is set to rule within days on whether to disqualify the Fulton County district attorney who is prosecuting the former president over his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election there, which could throw that entire case into doubt.

More about the New York case: Trump was charged by the District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office last year with 34 counts of falsifying business records. The charges stem from reimbursements made to Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen for hush money payments he made before the 2016 election to an adult film star alleging an affair with Trump. The former president has pleaded not guilty and denied the affair.

The proposed delay in the New York trial is in order to give Trump’s lawyers time to review new materials turned over by federal prosecutors this week, the DA’s office said.

Lawyers for Donald Trump are pushing a series of arguments for why the judge overseeing the case concerning the former president's handling of classified documents should order the case to be dismissed. Some of those arguments include that Trump is shielded by presidential immunity and that his handling of classified material is allowed under the Presidential Records Act.

What the Presidential Records Act says: The key sentence is, “Upon the conclusion of a President’s term of office, or if a President serves consecutive terms upon the conclusion of the last term, the Archivist of the United States shall assume responsibility for the custody, control, and preservation of, and access to, the Presidential records of that President.”

One section of the law lays out a process of communication between a sitting president and NARA’s chief archivist for instances in which the president wants to dispose of personal records, which are defined as records of “a purely private or nonpublic character” unrelated to the president’s official duties. 

Another section of the law allows a president, before leaving office, to restrict access to some records (including personnel files and medical files, advice from aides, trade secrets and certain defense information) for up to 12 years — though these records must still be in NARA custody during the temporary restricted period.

Neither of these sections of the act is relevant to Trump’s case because:

David Harbach, a prosecutor with the special counsel, argued in court that the classified information found at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence were “nowhere near personal,” as the former president has claimed. 

Pushing back against Trump’s arguments that the Presidential Records Act (PRA) authorized him to keep documents after leaving the White House, Harbach said that the law doesn’t give presidents “carte blanche” to improperly designate records as personal.

It would be “absurd,” Harbach said, if the National Archives couldn’t seek the Justice Department’s help after finding a “boatload” of classified records in boxes returned from Mar-a-Lago, which raised concern more classified material remained at the Florida estate. The FBI later searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and found more.

And, Harbach added, even if the records were considered his personal documents under the PRA, as Trump has argued, the PRA “says zero, zip on classified information.”

Former presidents shouldn’t have a “permanent exemption for all time” to classification rules, Harbach said.

Judge Aileen Cannon wrapped up the hearing Thursday without a ruling on two of Donald Trump’s motions to dismiss the classified documents case against him.

The federal judge said from the bench in Florida that she would take the motions "under advisement" and would be ruling on the two motions "promptly."

There are nine total motions to dismiss, and Cannon has not set additional hearings on any of the other motions to dismiss.

Judge Aileen Cannon expressed skepticism toward former President Donald Trump's argument that the classified documents case should be dismissed under the Presidential Records Act (PRA), which Trump has claimed allowed him to make the documents his personal papers.

Cannon showed some openness to the idea that Trump had the power to designate the records as personal and take them to Mar-a-Lago at the end of his presidency. She said that argument was "forceful" but suggested it was a question for a jury to consider during trial.

"Your arguments might have some force, again, as it comes to a trial defense," Cannon said, referring to arguments from Trump’s attorneys that other executives have retained presidential documents.

But, Cannon said, the defense’s arguments would effectively "gut the PRA altogether" and allow future presidents to say clearly presidential documents are personal — an argument the Justice Department has made in court papers in the case.

Cannon has now expressed skepticism about both of Trump’s two motions to dismiss that are being discussed Thursday.

Donald Trump’s lawyers are arguing two main points about why the case concerning the former president’s handling of classified documents should be thrown out.

These motions to dismiss the case will take the judge a while for Cannon to work through. 

“They write long opinions,” Katelyn Polantz, CNN’s senior crime and justice reporter, explained, referring to judges considering these types of arguments.

That means there is a long way to go. Cannon is also reconsidering the trial start date which was initially set for late May. 

During the morning session of today's hearing in the classified documents case, Donald Trump’s presence was only acknowledged once at the beginning of the proceedings during a roll call.

While Trump largely sat with his hands clasped or arms crossed, as the hearing progressed, he began whispering things to one of his attorneys, Todd Blanche, who would often chuckle or smile as he listened to the former president.

There is no audio or video from the courtroom available to the public.

Judge Aileen Cannon said it would be an “extraordinary step” for her to throw out the Mar-a-Lago documents case, as former President Donald Trump is requesting, on the basis that the relevant law is "unconstitutionally vague."

The two hours of oral arguments Thursday morning focused on the unconstitutional vagueness request.

Trump is arguing that the law undergirding 32 counts of the indictment — prohibiting the unlawful retention of national defense information — is too ambiguous to be applied to his alleged conduct.

Bove responded: “I understand that it is significant, but it’s warranted here.”

Trump’s claims that the Presidential Records Act requires the case to be dismissed will be argued in the afternoon.