During a recent hearing for former President Donald Trump’s Florida case, the judge overseeing the case questioned why Trump was the only president to face criminal charges over the handling of classified material.
According to reports from NBC News and CNN, Judge Aileen Cannon expressed her surprise that no other former president has been charged in a similar manner.
Trump’s attorneys brought up a report by special counsel Robert Hur, which found evidence that current President Joe Biden willfully kept classified documents but declined to charge him. The prosecutor in the case, Jay Bratt, argued that no other former president has faced such allegations.
Republicans have also questioned why Trump is facing charges while Biden is not. During a hearing earlier this week, special counsel Jack Smith referenced Hur’s report to defend against Trump’s motion to dismiss the case, citing “selective and vindictive prosecution.”
Smith also noted that Trump is accused of obstruction of justice and attempting to keep classified documents, while Biden has not been accused of similar offenses.
However, Judge Cannon seemed skeptical of Trump’s arguments, stating that dismissing the case would be an “extraordinary step” based on his claims that the law behind his indictment is “unconstitutionally vague.”
She also questioned whether it would be “premature” to dismiss the case based on an argument about the Presidential Records Act, as there is a dispute over whether Trump designated the documents in question as personal.
You heard that Trump lost his motion to dismiss in court today, as expected, but was it really a loss? What did Judge Aileen Cannon really say? Did she say Trump had no case? Did she say the charges against Trump were not vague or unconstitutional? Not really!
NOTE: Judge Cannon… pic.twitter.com/VqwjZ013Rz
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) March 14, 2024
The ongoing legal battle highlights the political divide between Trump and Biden, with each side pointing fingers at the other. While Trump maintains his innocence and claims he is being unfairly targeted, Biden and his team deny any wrongdoing and stress that there is no evidence of criminal activity.
