The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s Florida case questioned during a Thursday hearing why he was the only president who h...
The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s Florida case questioned during a Thursday hearing why he was the only president who has been charged over his handling of classified material, according to multiple reports.
During a hearing to consider various motions Trump filed to dismiss the case, Judge Aileen Cannon noted no former president had similarly faced criminal charges over the handling of classified material, according to NBC News. Trump’s attorneys brought up special counsel Robert Hur’s report finding evidence President Joe Biden willfully kept classified documents, but declining to charge him, according to CNN.
“Even with other former presidents, there was never a situation remotely similar to this one,” prosecutor Jay Bratt told Cannon, according to CNN.
When Special counsel Robert Hur appeared before the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday to defend his report, Republicans suggested there was a double standard in bringing charges against Trump but not Biden.
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 wrote.
Regarding Trump’s other motions, Cannon stated during the hearing it would be an “extraordinary step” to toss the case based on his argument that the law behind his indictment is “unconstitutionally vague,” according to CNN. She also questioned whether it would be “premature” to dismiss the case based on the Presidential Records Act, suggesting there was a dispute about whether the documents were designated as personal as Trump claims, according to the outlet.
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