In a blow to Donald Trump (R), U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon denied one of the former president’s two motions to dismiss his classified documents case.
Trump, who has denied guilt, has been accused of making false statements, conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document and willful retention of national defense information.
The twice-impeached former president and his legal team have struggled to make a convincing argument that would get Trump removed from the case. Moreover, Cannon has appeared unconvinced that Trump’s defense is reasonable.
Trump’s team has attempted to use the Presidential Records Act as a way to excuse his removal of the classified documents from the White House. Furthermore, he has stated that by removing the documents from the White House, they become personal records. However, special counsel Jack Smith has pushed back on that argument.
Many critics have called out the difference between the treatment of President Joe Biden, who took a significantly lower amount of documents than Trump, and the former president. Special Counsel Robert Hur addressed these issues and stated there are distinct differences between the two, and that the accusations against Trump were much more dangerous than the ones against Biden.
Trump was accused of taking over 300 documents, Biden, on the other hand, took around 50.
The Mar-a-Lago resident is facing several legal trials and has recently lost a civil fraud trial in which he must pay over $400 billion.
In the case, Trump’s character and actions were torn apart by Judge Arthur Engoron. Engoron labeled Trump as a liar and blasted his business ethics.
The defendant and his two sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., were accused of misrepresenting their wealth in some capacity. Trump continuously told investors that his businesses were worth more than they were.
Trump used a tactic known as “comparables” where a seller estimates the worth of their property by comparing it to another similar property. However, the New York native used other properties worth much more than his own to represent his worth.
When the former president was confronted with financial documents that conflicted with his personal statements regarding his net worth, he vehemently disagreed.
“I’m worth billions of dollars more than the financial statements,” said Trump. He continued to accuse the state lawyer and stated, “You go around and try and demean me and try and hurt me, probably for political reasons.”
