On Thursday, Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing former President Donald Trump’s Florida case, questioned why Trump is the only president who has been charged over his handling of classified material, according to the Daily Caller.
In a hearing considering motions the Trump defense team had filed to dismiss the case, Cannon noted that no other former president had faced similar criminal charges over the handling of classified material, according to NBC News.
Trump’s attorneys pointed out that special counsel Robert Hur’s report found evidence that President Joe Biden had willfully kept classified documents but declined to charge him, according to CNN.
NEW: From FLA courthouse in Trump's classified documents case with a prediction.
Robert Hur report and testimony is the biggest elephant in the room. The term "arbitrary enforcement" used frequently by both the defense and Judge Aileen Cannon.
Cannon hammered the fact no former…
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) March 14, 2024
Special counsel Jack Smith previously cited Hur’s report in opposing Trump’s motion to dismiss based on “selective and vindictive prosecution.”
“Most notably, Trump, unlike Biden, is alleged to have engaged in extensive and repeated efforts to obstruct justice and thwart the return of documents bearing classification markings,” Smith claimed.
Cannon ruled shortly after a daylong hearing on Trump’s motions to toss the case. She had made it clear during the hearing she was skeptical of his attorneys’ arguments, according to NBC.
Trump’s lawyers contended that the Presidential Records Act bars his prosecution and that the bulk of the charges should be thrown out because of the 1978 law that governs the preservation of information during and following a presidency.
At times Cannon appeared sympathetic to the Trump team’s arguments.
When she noted that no other former president has faced criminal charges related to the law, Jay Bratt of the special counsel’s office responded, “There has never been a situation remotely similar to this one.”
Sympathetic or not, Cannon conceded “It’s difficult to see how this gets you to the dismissal of an indictment.”
At the end of the hearing, Cannon said she would rule on the motions “promptly.”
Instead of speaking to reporters at the courthouse, Trump used his social media platform, Truth Social, to thank his supporters.
“Big crowds in Fort Pierce, Florida, for the Biden induced Witch Hunt against his political opponent, ME! Thank you, a great honor to have you there,” he wrote.
Trump’s lawyers are expected to continue to seek delay in his upcoming trials until after the U.S. Supreme Court rules on his claims of presidential immunity.
