Judge denies bid to dismiss certain counts in Trump classified documents indictment

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal judge presiding over the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump and two of his associates denied a request Monday to dismiss some of the charges in the indictment.

The defendants had sought to throw out more than a half-dozen of the 41 counts in the indictment, which accuses Trump of illegally hoarding classified documents from his presidency and of conspiring with valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager to conceal the sensitive files from the government.

The defendants had challenged counts related to obstruction and false statements, but U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon said in an order Monday that “the identified deficiencies, even if generating some arguable confusion, are either permitted by law, raise evidentiary challenges not appropriate for disposition at this juncture, and/or do not require dismissal even if technically deficient, so long as the jury is instructed appropriately and presented with adequate verdict forms as to each Defendants’ alleged conduct.”

Cannon has already rejected multiple other motions to dismiss the case, including one that suggested that Trump was authorized under a statute known as the Presidential Records Act to keep the documents with him after he left the White House and to designate them as his personal files.