April 3 (UPI) — Special counsel Jack Smith said the ruling in the classified documents case against Donald Trump issued an order that would distort the trial.
The premise Smith is referring to is an interpretation of the Presidential Records Act championed by Trump’s defense. The former president’s lawyers argued that he had the authority to take and retain classified documents after leaving the White House. Cannon ordered the prosecution and defense to appear. with proposals on the concept that Trump’s argument is valid.
Smith contends that the Presidential Records Act does not apply because the charges against Trump relate to moves taken after his presidency.
Smith also expressed his fear that Cannon would wait to make a resolution after the danger arose. If it determines at this point that Trump is legal to possess the documents in question, the case will be over and the government will not have a chance to appeal. Nor would I. It would be permissible to review Trump because of a double jeopardy.
“Whatever the court decides, it temporarily wants those very important legal issues,” Smith said. “Failure to do so would jeopardize the government’s right to a fair trial and deprive it of its right to seek appellate review. “
Two scenarios can be considered according to Cannon’s order.
The first is that the Espionage Act allows a former president to possess any document that a jury deems a non-public record, as explained in the Presidential Records Act. Juries would be guilty of making those decisions.
The dossier shows Trump reached out through Judicial Watch, a conservative nonprofit group. In conversations between Trump, his lawyers, and the group’s president through February 2022, Trump’s team stated that the documents in question were presidential and not personal.
Trump faces 32 counts of mishandling classified documents and national security secrets.