The prosecution team led by Special Counsel Jack Smith is pushing back against a federal judge’s proposed jury instructions that they argue could improperly favor Donald Trump‘s defense in his classified documents case.
In a filing this week, Smith warned Judge Aileen Cannon that her drafted instructions suggesting Trump may have had legal authority to deem presidential records as personal property risk could “distort the trial.”
The objection centers on Cannon’s March 18 proposal that jurors be told they can consider whether Trump properly designated the classified materials he took to Mar-a-Lago as his personal records under the Presidential Records Act (PRA).
Prosecutors have steadfastly maintained the law prevents presidents from unilaterally converting public records to personal property upon leaving office. They argue Aileen Cannon’s wording presents an “unstated and fundamentally flawed legal premise.”
For their part, Trump’s defense lawyers insisted Cannon has “correctly stated the law” by raising the PRA designation issue, which is central to the former president’s expected defense strategy.
The dueling positions set up a thorny pre-trial legal battle that could significantly impact the scope and framing of Trump’s upcoming trial scheduled for May, though that start date is likely to be postponed.
At its core, the dispute boils down to whether Aileen Cannon will allow Trump’s team to argue to jurors that he acted within his authority under the PRA by taking classified documents to Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House in 2021.
Legal experts say adopting that view of the PRA would grant the president essentially unlimited power over declassifying and personal retention of materials intended for the National Archives.
While judges have discretion in crafting jury instructions, prosecutors worry Cannon’s draft language downplays the criminal allegations against Trump by validating the notion the documents could belong to him personally.
Both sides will continue filing briefs before Cannon issues final jury instructions ahead of the hotly anticipated trial over the mishandling of America’s national security secrets. But her initial proposal appears favorable to Trump’s defense – setting up a brewing legal showdown.
