Donald Trump’s motion to dismiss classified-documents case declined by Judge Aileen Cannon
- The ruling came just hours after a hearing in which the ex-US president’s lawyers argued that the central charge in the case was improperly vague
- Cannon also indicated she was unlikely to agree to a request to dismiss the case on the grounds that Trump had deemed the documents to be ‘personal’
A federal judge on Thursday denied former US president Donald Trump’s request to dismiss a criminal case that charges him with illegally holding onto classified documents after leaving the White House.
The ruling by US District Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida came just hours after a hearing in which his lawyers argued that the central charge in the case is improperly vague.
Cannon, who was appointed to her post by Trump, ruled that question “warrants serious consideration” but should not be decided at this point.
Trump, the Republican challenger to US President Joe Biden in the November election, has pleaded not guilty to a 40-count indictment that accuses him of illegally taking sensitive government documents with him when he left the White House in 2021.
It is one of four criminal cases he faces as he tries to win back the White House.
At the hearing, Cannon also indicated she was unlikely to agree to a separate request by Trump to dismiss the case on the grounds he had deemed the documents to be “personal” rather than government property.
