Former President Donald Trump's legal team filed several motions on Thursday to dismiss the classified documents case brought by special counsel Jack Smith. The filings were made as Trump's team faced a Thursday deadline to file motions to dismiss. The four motions argued for dismissal on several grounds: presidential immunity, the unlawfulness of Smith's appointment as special counsel, the inappropriate application of statutes to Trump's behavior based on an unclear constitutional precedent, and Trump's right to custody of the documents under the Presidential Records Act, even after his presidency.
Last June, Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials. Prosecutors alleged that he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information, including U.S. nuclear secrets and defense capabilities, and took steps to thwart the government's efforts to retrieve the documents. In addition to Trump, his longtime aide Walt Nauta also pleaded not guilty to related charges. A superseding indictment later charged Trump, Nauta, and Carlos De Oliveira, the head of maintenance at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, with two obstruction counts. These allegations stemmed from accusations that the defendants tried to delete surveillance video footage at Mar-a-Lago in the summer of 2022.
Throughout the legal proceedings, Trump has maintained his innocence, denying all charges and criticizing the investigation as a political witch hunt.
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