Judge Cannon says 'no' to Trump's co-defendants who want out of documents case
Federal Judge Aileen Cannon has denied Donald Trump's classified document co-defendants' motions to dismiss.
In her eight-page order, Cannon rejected efforts by Trump's aide Walt Nauta and former Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira to get the cases against them tossed, reported MSNBC host and legal analyst Katie Phang.
She tweeted that Cannon shot down Nauta's request to be spared of a trial and instead "finds that the indictment puts him on enough notice so that he can adequately prepare for trial."
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The Trump-appointed judge refused to do away with the indictment based on "vagueness grounds," however she would revisit the issue of how "corruptly" is defined once jury instructions are issued down the line.
Cannon also rejected De Oliveira's claims that he was oblivious to what was inside of the banker boxes he was allegedly directed to hoard on behalf of the 45th president and therefore "didn't have the required corrupt intent."
Rather than get rid of the case now, Cannon offered De Oliveira to bring up the details of his innocence at trial.
"She says what is alleged in the indictment and that has been provided in discovery is sufficient," according to Phang.
Special counsel Jack Smith has brought a 40-count indictment against against Trump that involves 32 alleged violations of a national security law known as the Espionage Act, for hoarding hundreds of classified documents he brought from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida when he was defeated by President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
The aides were charged along with the former president in obstructing the feds when they attempted to recover the sensitive materials. Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira also pleaded not guilty.
Trump, Nauta, and de Oliveira have all pleaded not guilty.