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Trump moves to dismiss classified documents case, claiming immunity and unlawful appointment of special counsel
Washington — In a flurry of late-night court filings, former President Donald Trump’s legal team attempted to get the federal indictment related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents dismissed, presenting a Florida judge on Thursday with various motions to toss the case that she must now consider.
The former president has been charged with 40 counts in the Southern District of Florida stemming from allegations that he unlawfully retained national defense information and then worked to impede the federal probe into his handling of the material. Special counsel Jack Smith — appointed in 2022 by Attorney General Merrick Garland to handle two Trump-related investigations — accused Trump of willfully taking sensitive government records with classified markings from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago residence.
The special counsel also charged Trump and two co-defendants — aide Walt Nauta and resort employee Carlos de Oliveira — with crimes that amounted to accusations of moving boxes of government records to avoid detection and unsuccessfully trying to get security camera footage erased.
Trump, Nauta and de Oliveira have all pleaded not guilty, and in Thursday’s filings, the former president’s legal team levied much of the same criticism against the probe that Trump has discussed on the campaign trail.
In four motions to dismiss the indictment submitted to Judge Aileen Cannon, Trump’s attorneys took issue with Jack Smith’s appointment as special counsel and claimed various legal principles — including the Presidential Records Act and the theory of presidential immunity — shield the former president from criminal prosecution in the case.
The attorneys wrote in one memo that the case should be dismissed because, as president, Trump had “unreviewable discretion” over classified records and, under the Presidential Records Act, could designate any official government document as a personal record.
“President Trump was still the President of the United States when, for example, many of the documents at issue were packed (presumably by the GSA), transported, and delivered to Mar-A-Lago,” the filing said.
Trump’s team also argued that the Presidential Records Act “precludes judicial review” over a president’s recordkeeping, contending that the court has no jurisdiction in the matter. In other cases involving “government officials whose last name is not Trump,” matters were handled differently, they said.
Federal investigators recovered more than 300 documents bearing classified markings from Trump’s club at Mar-a-Lago after he left the White House, according to prosecutors’ 2022 court filings. The documents were allegedly kept in several places at Mar-a-Lago, including a ballroom, a bathroom and a storage room where more than 80 boxes were stacked.
The former president’s legal team on Thursday also employed a theory they have so far unsuccessfully used in an attempt to dismiss the special counsel’s 2020 election-related case filed against him in Washington, D.C.: presidential immunity.
Trump’s lawyers argued that much of the conduct described in the indictment occurred while he was still president, characterizing them as official acts that cannot be criminally charged. Trump “made this decision while he was still in office,” they wrote of his movement of documents to Mar-a-Lago, “The alleged decision was an official act, and as such is subject to presidential immunity.”
Much of the legal arguments in the filing mirror Trump’s claims in the D.C. case, including his contention that the threat of future prosecution could affect how a sitting president operates as it would “hang like a millstone around every future President’s neck, distorting Presidential decision-making.”
The former president presented similar claims to a federal judge and three appeals court judges in the nation’s capital. All rejected his assertion of presential immunity, writing that legal and historical precedents do not support the idea that a president can never be charged for conduct that occurred while in office. Trump has asked the Supreme Court to step in and further delay his criminal trial in that case as he pursues other appeals. The justices have yet to rule on his request.
His legal team also took issue with the special counsel himself, arguing Jack Smith’s appointment and funding are “invalid.”
“Neither the Constitution nor Congress have created the office of the ‘Special Counsel,'” they wrote, arguing the attorney general did not have the proper authority to name Smith to the job.
“The authority he attempts to employ as Special Counsel far exceeds the power exercisable by a non-superior officer, the authority that Congress has not cloaked him with.”
Special counsels are appointed by attorneys general based on guidelines in the Justice Department Manual. In recent history, multiple special counsels were named during both the Trump and Biden administrations. Money for their investigations comes from permanent indefinite funding that Trump’s attorneys argue is improperly allocated because of how they are appointed.
In appointing Smith, Garland cited numerous laws and regulations that he and other attorneys general have said confer necessary authority onto the selected prosecutors.
Attorneys for the former president also urged Cannon to dismiss the case against him because of instances of “vagueness” that they said exists in the laws Trump is accused of violating.
The special counsel is expected to oppose each of these attempts to dismiss the charges, and the judge overseeing the case has indicated she might schedule hearings to go over the opposing viewpoints.
Other expected motions from Trump to dismiss the case are likely to be filed under seal, as they could contain sensitive information prosecutors have asked to keep out of public view. Cannon ruled that any such motion would first have to be presented to her before any redactions could be made for public release.
Trial in the case is currently set for the end of May, and the parties are scheduled to meet next week in Ft. Pierce, Florida, to hammer out potential details for future proceedings. In recent weeks, defense attorneys, prosecutors and Trump himself have met with Cannon behind closed doors to discuss the use of classified evidence at trial. Those disputes remain ongoing.
Attorneys for de Oliveira, Trump’s co-defendant and a former maintenance worker at Mar-a-Lago, filed their own motion to dismiss the charges against him. De Oliveira is not charged with any alleged mishandling of classified records. His attorneys argued on Thursday there is no evidence that he knew there was a federal investigation ongoing when he allegedly engaged in obstructive conduct.
“Nowhere does the Superseding Indictment allege that Mr. De Oliveira has ever seen a classified document, or that he was aware of their existence and presence at Mar-a-Lago at any time,” his attorneys wrote, “The Superseding Indictment is also devoid of any assertion that Mr. De Oliveira was aware of any government investigation at the time of his alleged actions.”
CBS News
North Carolina governor’s race rocked by CNN report on Mark Robinson’s alleged incendiary comments
Editor’s note: This story contains highly offensive language.
Washington — North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor, posted a slew of incendiary, explicit and racist comments on a pornographic website more than a decade ago, according to a CNN investigation released Thursday that has shaken the state’s gubernatorial race.
The report focused on comments made by an account with the name “minisoldr” on a pornographic website called Nude Africa between 2008 and 2012. The account used the name “mark robinson” in its profile and a number of biographical details posted by the account line up with Robinson’s own history, according to CNN. The network reported that Robinson appeared to use the account name on other platforms over the years, including YouTube and Pinterest, and that the email address associated with the account belonged to Robinson.
On the Nude Africa forum, the user expressed a desire to “bring [slavery] back” and “buy a few” slaves, while identifying himself as a “black NAZI,” according to CNN.
“Slavery is not bad. Some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it (slavery) back. I would certainly buy a few,” the account wrote in a discussion about Black Republicans in 2010, according to CNN.
“I like watching tranny on girl porn!” the minisoldr account also posted on Nude Africa, according to CNN. “That’s f****** hot! It takes the man out while leaving the man in! And yeah I’m a ‘perv’ too!”
In March 2012, minisoldr posted a preference for Hitler over former President Barack Obama’s administration: “I’d take Hitler over any of the s*** that’s in Washington right now!”
Minisoldr also used racist language to vilify civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr.
“I’m not in the KKK. They don’t let blacks join. If I was in the KKK I would have called him Martin Lucifer Koon!” the account posted in October 2011, according to CNN.
Reports emerged earlier Thursday that CNN was planning to publish a damaging story that could lead other Republicans to call on Robinson to drop out of the race. In a video posted to X before the CNN story was published, Robinson flatly denied that he said anything in the CNN report and insisted he won’t drop out. North Carolina will begin mailing ballots to members of the military and voters outside the U.S. on Friday.
“The things that you will see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson,” Robinson said in his video. “You know my words, you know my character and you know that I have been completely transparent in this race and before.”
Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Robinson echoed those comments in an interview with CNN. “This is not us. These are not our words. And this is not anything that is characteristic of me,” Robinson said, adding that he wouldn’t “get into the minutia of how somebody manufactured this, these salacious tabloid lies” when presented with evidence that the account belonged to him.
Robinson, who is 56 and married with two children, has a history of inflammatory remarks that have widely circulated since he won the state’s Republican primary in March. Serving as North Carolina’s lieutenant governor since 2021, he gained prominence in Republican circles after he delivered a pro-gun rights speech that went viral and kickstarted his political career. He’s made inflammatory comments across a number of topics — from Islam to abortion to feminism — but he’s been especially vocal on LGBTQ+ issues.
If elected, Robinson would become the first Black governor of North Carolina. Former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Robinson for governor, has referred to him as “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
The lieutenant governor blamed the CNN report on his Democratic opponent, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein.
“You all have seen the half truths and outright lies of Josh Stein,” Robinson said, claiming that Stein leaked the story to CNN.
The report’s release has spurred concern among Republicans about their nominee’s prospects in the coming election. Sen. Ted Budd, a North Carolina Republican, told reporters ahead of its release on Thursday that “North Carolinian voters are smart, and they know how to pick each and every candidate based on their own merits.”
When asked whether Robinson should step down, Budd said he didn’t have enough information.
“They’ve been assaulting him for years,” Budd said before the article was published. “We’re going to gather our facts through the weekend.”
contributed to this report.
Certain boxes of waffles sold at Costco Wholesale stores in the Midwest are being recalled because they may contain plastic, according to a notice by supplier Kodiak Cakes.
The recall involves Kodiak Power Waffles Buttermilk & Vanilla 40 count with the UPC code 705599019203 and a use-by date of Jan. 10, 2026, and only impacts products with the lot code 24193-WL4 and a time stamp of 12:00-23:00, according to the Park City, Utah-based company.
The recalled products were sold at Costco warehouses in 13 states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
The action was initiated “due to the potential presence of soft plastic film,” according to Kodiak, which noted that no injuries or illnesses had been reported.
Those who purchased the recalled product can return it to their local Costco for a refund.
People with questions can email Kodiak at: flapjacks@kodiakcakes.com or call 801-328-4067. Messages will be returned between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mountain time, Monday through Friday.
Tyson Foods is misleading shoppers and investors over its ability to reach “net-zero” carbon emissions by 2050 as well take other steps aimed at protecting the environment.
Tyson, the world’s second-biggest meat processor, should have to curtail its climate claims or release a substantial plan to support its claims, according to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday by the Environmental Working Group. The complaint is part of an effort to “hold the biggest, most powerful contributors to the climate crisis — across industries — accountable for greenwashing,” EWG stated.
Tyson Foods has said since 2021 that it would hit net-zero emissions — the point at which the amount of greenhouse gases a company emits is offset by the emissions that are removed from the atmosphere — by 2050 by using more renewable energy and no longer contributing to deforestation.
The Arkansas-based meat company also sells a brand of “climate-friendly” beef that Tyson says is made with 10% fewer emissions than conventional meat.
A spokesperson said Tyson does not comment on litigation, but defended the company’s “long history of sustainable practices.”
The suit against Tyson was filed in Washington, D.C., which has a consumer protection law in place that lets consumer groups sue companies for false advertising.
The same claim of greenwashing — a term attributed to environmentalist Jay Westerveld that refers to making false or misleading statements about the environmental benefits of a product or service — was made in February in a suit filed by New York State Attorney General Letitia James against JBS, the world’s largest beef producer, over its claim it would reach net-zero emissions by 2040.
James’ suit against the Brazilian meat conglomerate came after Earthjustice successfully challenged JBS’ environmental messaging before an ad industry self-regulatory organization in 2023.
Livestock production accounts for 14.5% of all greenhouse gas emissions globally, with cattle responsible for two-thirds of the total, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
The Science-Based Targets Initiative, a UN-backed agency that reviews net-zero goals, is calling for the food and agricultural sector to reduce its emissions by 3% annually between 2020 and 2030.
Delta Air Lines last year dismissed as “without legal merit” a suit filed by a passenger that alleged the airline’s claim to be “the world’s first carbon-neutral airline” to be marketing spin. Coca-Cola is currently defending itself in a similar case in which the beverage make is accused of overstating its recycling efforts.
North Carolina governor’s race rocked by CNN report on Mark Robinson’s alleged incendiary comments
Costco supplier recalls waffles sold at warehouse stores in 13 states
Tyson Foods misleads shoppers about its carbon emissions, climate group says
North Carolina governor’s race rocked by CNN report on Mark Robinson’s alleged incendiary comments
Costco supplier recalls waffles sold at warehouse stores in 13 states