Donald Trump’s lawyers asked a federal court Thursday to dismiss accusations that he illegally retained confidential documents after leaving the White House, arguing that he has criminal immunity.
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Donald Trump is accused in this case of having put the security of the United States at risk by keeping confidential documents after his departure from the White House in January 2021 in his residence in Florida, instead of handing them over to the National Archives as the law requires him to do so.
He then allegedly foiled investigators’ attempts to recover them.
Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the 40 counts that constitute the indictment filed in Florida by special counsel Jack Smith.
In a 20-page motion, Mr. Trump’s lawyers argued that when he removed the documents from the White House, it was an official act.
“President Trump made this decision while he was still in office. The alleged decision was an official act and, as such, is subject to presidential immunity,” the petition reads.
Targeted by four separate criminal charges, the big favorite in the Republican primaries for the November presidential election is seeking through his multiple appeals to go to trial as late as possible.
Mr. Trump used the same argument against a federal indictment for conspiracy against the US state following his 2020 election defeat to Joe Biden, leading to the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 by a mob of his supporters.
Earlier this month, a federal appeals court ruled that his claim for immunity was not supported by the U.S. Constitution. Trump then went to the Supreme Court to try to have this decision suspended.
The question of criminal immunity for a former president of the United States has never been tested in American jurisprudence, because until the Trump case, no former president had ever been charged with a crime.
