Lawyers for former President Donald Trump asked a federal judge on Thursday to dismiss his classified records case in Florida, arguing he is shielded by presidential immunity.
The Republican presidential front-runner’s latest effort to claim he is immune from prosecution follows his similar efforts to dismiss special counsel Jack Smith’s separate case that alleges Trump attempted to subvert the 2020 election. An appellate court rejected that argument earlier this month, prompting Trump to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The high court could soon address Trump’s immunity argument and reconsider the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s ruling if the justices choose to grant his emergency petition for oral argument.
In Trump’s motions filed in the Florida case late Thursday night, Trump’s lawyers argued that the former president is immune from the classified documents charges because he was acting in his official duties as president and that he designated the records as personal under the Presidential Records Act.
Trump had “unreviewable discretion” over the classified records at issue in the indictment, his attorneys wrote, arguing he was still the president when “many of the documents at issue were packed (presumably by the [General Services Administration]), transported, and delivered to Mar-A-Lago.”
The former president’s attorneys also argue that the Presidential Records Act “precludes judicial review” of a president’s record-keeping and say that in other cases involving “government officials whose last name is not Trump,” matters were handled differently, suggesting that Trump is also being selectively prosecuted.
Another component of Trump’s motions to dismiss challenged Smith’s appointment to oversee the case, suggesting Attorney General Merrick Garland improperly appointed him.
Trump pleaded not guilty last year to 40 charges in the classified documents case. Those include willful retention of national defense information and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Also on Thursday, lawyers for Trump’s property manager at Mar-a-Lago, Carlos de Oliveira, argued in court filings that their client did not knowingly obstruct justice. The Florida estate manager was charged in a superseding indictment last summer alleging he helped co-defendant Walt Nauta move boxes of documents around the club resort.
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In addition to the classified documents case and the 2020 election subversion case brought by Smith, Trump has lodged similar efforts to dismiss his Georgia racketeering case and an effort to toss a criminal case against him in New York.
All efforts to shake off his charges ahead of their criminal trials have so far failed, and Trump maintains his innocence across all four criminal indictments.
