Fort Pierce - Thursday April 4, 2024: U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon Thursday finally issued an order denying a motion from ex-president Trump's lawyers who asked her to throw out the classified documents case that is being tried here in Fort Pierce.
She rejected the defense argument that the Presidential Records Act entitles any President to declare secret government records their own personal records, and then take those records with them after they leave office, no matter how secret and confidential they may be.
Judge Cannon has been under heavy pressure from federal prosecutors after she issued an earlier ordertelling both sides to craft jury instructions based on the Presidential Records Act defense.
Prosecutors objected saying the Presidential Records Act defense should play no role in the trial. The case, they argue, is not about personal presidential records, but about the illegal detention of national defense information in violation of the Espionage Act.
Judge Cannon has not yet set a date for the trial to begin.