[Source: Reuters]

A federal judge on Thursday rejected Donald Trump’s argument that the case accusing the former U.S. president of illegally holding onto classified documents should be thrown out on the basis of his argument that they were his personal records rather than government property.

Florida-based U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon ruled against a motion by Trump’s lawyers to have the case dismissed in her latest decision to allow the case – one of four criminal indictments against him – to continue.

Trump, the Republican challenger to Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 U.S. election, had argued that his retention of highly sensitive documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after leaving office in 2021 was authorized under a U.S. law that lets former presidents keep personal records unrelated to their official responsibilities.

Prosecutors in the case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith have said the documents relate to U.S. military and intelligence matters, including details about the American nuclear program, and could not be construed as personal.

Cannon had expressed skepticism at a March 14 court hearing that the case should be dismissed based on Trump’s argument, but said at that time that it may have “some force” as a defense at trial. The judge on March 18 then directed the prosecution and defense to propose jury instructions based on two legal scenarios assuming Trump’s argument would play a role at trial.

Smith pushed back on that order, which prosecutors argued was based on a flawed premise that the presidential records law is relevant to whether Trump was authorized to keep classified documents.

Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, responded to that criticism on Thursday, saying her prior order was a “genuine attempt, in the context of the upcoming trial, to better understand the parties’ competing positions.”

The judge spurned Smith’s demand that she quickly decide whether the personal documents claim will be relevant to the trial, saying making a decision at this stage would be “unprecedented and unjust.” Smith has said prosecutors would need time to appeal any such ruling.

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