Prosecutors have rejected former President Trump’s claims that the case regarding his possession of classified documents post-White House departure is politically motivated.
Special counsel Jack Smith’s team filed a 68-page document on Friday, refuting Trump’s allegations of collusion between the Biden administration, National Archives, and the special counsel’s office.
Prosecutors described Trump’s assertions as “inaccurate and distorted” and urged his team to address the “misstatements” that create a “highly misleading impression” of the case. The legal team also accused the defendant of crafting a “false narrative of the investigation’s origins” to discredit government officials.
Prosecutors Criticize Trump’s ‘Distorted’ Argument (Credits: The Hill)
In their filing, Smith’s team emphasized that the government faced an extraordinary situation where a former President engaged in obstruction of the collection of Presidential records, including highly classified documents.
They argued that the law mandated the collection of these documents, which belonged to the United States for the benefit of history and posterity. The prosecutors dismissed the defendants’ insinuations as having little factual or legal relevance to their discovery requests but stressed the need for corrections.
The filing coincides with attempts by Trump and his co-defendants, Carlos DeOliveira and Walty Nauta, to access government documents removed from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in August 2022. Attorneys argued that these documents would serve as valuable evidence for the defense in court.
Trump, currently facing numerous civil and criminal cases, is accused of hoarding over 300 records at his Florida estate and violating the Espionage Act by refusing to return them. The trial is scheduled for May 20, but the date may be subject to change.
