Judge Cannon has not yet set a trial date or ruled on motions to dismiss the case or a gag order request from Jack Smith. Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys have filed a notice stating they will use classified materials in his defense strategy for the federal documents case. The attorneys, Todd Blanche, Emil Bove, and Christopher Kise, informed Judge Cannon and special counsel Jack Smith that they will submit a notice under the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA) to govern the use of classified records in the case.
The former president’s attorneys have made their first selection of documents and informed a “Classified Information Security Officer” in Fort Pierce, Florida, about their plans to use classified materials. The nature of these documents has not been disclosed. The case seems to be progressing as the Trump attorneys met a pre-trial deadline to inform the court of their decision. Judge Cannon has not yet set a trial date or ruled on motions to dismiss the case or a gag order request from the special counsel’s team.
Smith’s lawyers have argued that Trump is trying to delay the case, while Trump’s attorneys claim that previous deadlines should be postponed due to his New York criminal case and trial. The former president faces 40 federal charges for retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida after leaving the White House in 2021 and obstructing federal authorities’ efforts to retrieve them. In August 2022, FBI agents searched his home and seized boxes of classified and top-secret documents.
If Trump is elected as the presumptive Republican nominee for president in November, he may have options to terminate both the classified documents case and another case in Washington led by Smith, where he is accused of illegally trying to overturn the 2020 election results. He has pleaded not guilty in both cases. Judge Cannon recently postponed the trial date indefinitely, and she has allowed outside experts to testify on the legality of Smith’s appointment as special counsel.
Legal experts and Trump’s attorneys argue that Smith’s appointment violates the Constitution because he was not working for the government at the time he was named. However, lawyers for the government maintain that his appointment was valid. The court has been urged to deny the challenge to the special counsel’s authority to prosecute the case. Can you please rewrite this sentence?
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