Election-Year Legal Challenges to Trump and Nauta’s Charges in the Mishandling of Classified Information Case

The defense said it won’t know exactly what kind of motion it may file on the issue until it is able to review the jury pool-related discovery that the government is obligated to turn over. Donald Trump and co-defendant Walt Nauta laid out some of the legal challenges they will mount against charges related to the alleged mishandling of classified information brought against them by special counsel Jack Smith.

The former president and his ally argued the case will give rise to “unprecedented” pre-trial disputes that will require US District Judge Aileen Cannon to weigh in on questions that have likely never been put before a court. The defense team suggested it won’t be possible to seat a fair jury while the presidential campaign is underway. In a joint filing, they wrote, “This extraordinary case presents a serious challenge to both the fact and perception of our American democracy.

The Court now presides over a prosecution advanced by the administration of a sitting President against his chief political rival, himself a leading candidate for the Presidency of the United States.” The special counsel wants the case to go to trial in mid-December and both defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges. These include obstruction-related allegations in addition to the accusations that Trump illegally retained national defense information.

Trump’s legal team will pursue a motion to dismiss the case, claiming the Presidential Records Act and “various criminal statutes” require the case’s dismissal – an argument legal experts have thoroughly debunked. They may also bring “Constitutional and statutory challenges relative to the authority of the Special Counsel to maintain this action”, raising questions of Presidential powers never addressed in court. The defense may also question whether the documents in question were actually classified. Trump has claimed at times that he declassified them, though his lawyers have stopped short of making such assertions in legal filings, and it isn’t a condition of the charges. The defendants’ filing also previewed opposition to prosecutors using “any ‘secret’ evidence in a case of this nature.” The first hearing on how to handle the classified documents is scheduled for next Tuesday and the defendants suggested they’ll have to make additional discovery requests soon. Smith's team has already given the defense roughly nine months of closed-circuit TV footage, 428,300 records, 122,650 emails, and 305,670 documents. Trump and his team have maintained that a fair trial is not possible during a presidential election. They wrote, “There is simply no question any trial of this action during the pendency of a Presidential election will impact both the outcome of that election and, importantly, the ability of the Defendants to obtain a fair trial.” Former President Donald Trump and his co-defendant Walt Nauta on Monday night announced some of the legal attacks they will launch against the charges related to the alleged mishandling of classified information brought against them by special counsel Jack Smith.

The defendants argued the case will give rise to “unprecedented” pre-trial disputes that may require US District Judge Aileen Cannon to make rulings never before put before a court. Trump and Nauta’s legal team submitted a joint filing claiming that the prosecution advanced by the sitting president against his chief political rival may impact the outcome of the election and the ability of the defendants to obtain a fair trial. They proposed that the Presidential Records Act and “various criminal statutes” require the case’s dismissal, though such arguments have been debunked by legal experts. The defense also suggested they may bring “Constitutional and statutory challenges relative to the authority of the Special Counsel to maintain this action”, raising questions of Presidential powers never addressed in court. They also questioned whether the documents in question were actually classified, and previewed opposition to prosecutors using “any ‘secret’ evidence”.

The first hearing on how to handle the classified documents is scheduled for next Tuesday and the defendants suggested they’ll have to make additional discovery requests soon. Smith's team has already provided the defense with nine months of closed-circuit TV footage, 428,300 records, 122,650 emails, and 305,670 documents. Given the potential for the trial to impact the outcome of the presidential election, Trump and Nauta have indicated they may seek a post-election trial date. They wrote, “There is simply no question any trial of this action during the pendency of a Presidential election will impact both the outcome of that election and, importantly, the ability of the Defendants to obtain a fair trial.” It remains to be seen whether they will be successful in their attempts.