Federal judge denies one of Trump’s motions to dismiss charges in classified documents case

A federal judge rejected one of former President Donald Trump’s motions to dismiss charges in the classified documents case against him.

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U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon heard arguments from Trump’s legal team and special counsel Jack Smith’s office prosecutors over the Espionage Act on Thursday before she made her decision, CNN and The New York Times reported.

It was the only motion made by Trump’s team in the case that was denied, the Times reported.

Cannon said that the questions raised by Trump’s team had raised “various arguments warranting serious consideration,” but did not think dismissing the charges made sense, The Associated Press reported.

The U.S. government claims that Trump broke the law 32 times by taking classified documents from the White House after his presidential term was over, the Times reported.

Those documents reportedly had top-secret information related to nuclear programs and military information, the AP reported.

“Although the Motion raises various arguments warranting serious consideration, the Court ultimately determines, following lengthy oral argument, that resolution of the overall question presented depends too greatly on contested instructional questions about still-fluctuating definitions of statutory terms/phrases as charged,” Cannon wrote, according to CNN.

Cannon recommended that the case move forward, and suggested that “jury-instruction briefing and/or other appropriate motions,” happen first rather than dismissing the charges, CNN reported.

No date for the trial has been set yet, according to the Times.

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