Donald Trump's legal team has focused its attention on the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case now that his hush money trial has ended.
The former president was found guilty on all 34 felony counts in that case, but his lawyers are now scrambling to file requests with U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon that would exclude some of the most damning evidence that shows he took top-secret material to Florida after leaving the White House, and then allegedly took steps to avoid returning them to the National Archives, reported The Guardian.
"The case remains alive, for now, but the delays have played into the hands of Trump, whose overarching legal strategy has been to push any trials until after the 2024 election, in the hopes that he will be re-elected and can then appoint a loyalist as attorney general who would drop the charges," the publication reported.
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"But Trump’s lawyers in the coming weeks are preparing to try to capitalize on their freer schedule and the judge’s disposition," the report added, "and seek to expunge as much of the evidence that prosecutors have amassed as possible."
Cannon struck a paragraph from the indictment this week that described an episode where Trump allegedly waved a classified document around in front of a campaign official, saying the incident was not part of the charges against him but could prejudice a jury. The judge's ruling reflects her apparent skepticism toward prosecutors in the case, critics have said.
"At one point in a set of forthcoming hearings, Trump’s lawyers are expected to continue that line of reasoning in a potentially momentous attempt to prevent prosecutors from using incriminating statements that Trump’s then-lawyer Evan Corcoran recalled in transcribed notes," The Guardian reported.
The notes were among the most damaging evidence in the indictment and described how Trump asked Corcoran, who left the legal team in May 2023, whether he must comply with a grand jury subpoena seeking the return of all the classified documents.
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Trump's failure to comply is considered to be the trigger for the criminal investigation and the search of Mar-a-Lago, and Corcoran's notes were turned over after a federal judge in Washington used the crime-fraud exception to pierce attorney-client privilege, but the former president has argued that exception was improperly applied.
Cannon will get a chance to weigh in on that after a hearing later this month.
"The result of that hearing could be consequential, depending on whether Cannon decides to expunge that evidence, too, dealing a blow to the obstruction charges," the publication reported.