FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — Prosecutors and defense attorneys confidential document incident The case against former President Donald Trump is scheduled to go to court Wednesday for the first time since a judge indefinitely postponed the trial earlier this month.
Case, One of four criminal charges against Trumpwas scheduled to go to trial on May 20th. U.S. District Judge Eileen Cannon raised a number of issues. She has not yet determined the basis for canceling the trial date.
On Wednesday, Cannon is scheduled to hear arguments on President Trump’s request to dismiss the charges because they do not clearly represent a crime and instead amount to “a personal and political attack against President Trump.” Ta. General public and media consumption. ”
Prosecutors on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team, which brought the case, plan to argue against the request. Republican Trump is not expected to attend the hearing.
The motion is one of several that Trump’s lawyers have filed to dismiss the case, some of which have already been filed. was denied.
President Trump’s co-defendants are also scheduled to give arguments on Wednesday. his servant Walt Nautathe charges are dropped.
The argument came a day after newly unsealed motions revealed that the defense is seeking to exclude evidence from a box of records that FBI agents seized in the case. President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate raided About two years ago in Palm Beach.
of The defense argued in the motion. They argued that the August 2022 raid was unconstitutional and “illegal,” and that there were false statements in an FBI affidavit filed to justify it.
smith’s team rejected each of those accusations He also defended the investigation, saying it was “careful” and “staged.” The search warrant was obtained after investigators collected surveillance camera footage that allegedly showed a concerted effort to hide boxes of classified documents inside the building. ing.
“The warrant was supported by detailed affidavits that established probable cause and omitted no material information; and the warrant provided ample guidance to the FBI agents who conducted the search. President Trump has not identified any plausible basis for suppressing the results of that investigation,” prosecutors wrote.
The defense motion was filed in February but made public Tuesday along with hundreds of pages of investigative documents filed in Florida’s docket.
That includes a previously sealed opinion last year by the then-chief judge of Washington’s federal court, in which he said that months after the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago raid, Mr. The lawyer states that he did the following: Submitted 4 additional documents Classified and found in President Trump’s bedroom.
March 2023 opinion from U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell directed Trump’s former lead attorney in the case. He demanded that Trump turn over materials to investigators in accordance with a grand jury subpoena, rejected the defense’s argument that cooperation was prohibited by attorney-client privilege, and accused Trump of committing a crime. It was concluded that this had been “tentatively” proven.
Trump, who is considered the 2024 Republican presidential candidate, has maintained his innocence and denied any wrongdoing.
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Mr. Tucker reported from Washington.