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Donald Trump is to file at least 10 motions in his classified documents trial on Thursday, which include claims that the raid on his Florida home was illegal.
Prosecutors in the case have repeatedly claimed to Judge Aileen Cannon that Trump and his lawyers are trying to delay the trial until after the 2024 presidential election.
Trump is facing 40 federal charges over allegations he retained classified papers after leaving the White House in January 2021 and then obstructed efforts by the relevant authorities to have them returned.
In August 2022, Trump's Mar-a-Lago private members club was raided by federal agents who recovered several classified papers. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and strongly denies any wrongdoing. He is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential race.
One of Trump's proposed motions will contest the appointment of the chief prosecutor in the case, Special Counsel Jack Smith.
In a request filed to Cannon on Tuesday, Trump's lawyer sought permission to file "at least 10 pretrial motions concerning, for example, the appointment of Jack Smith, presidential immunity, the Presidential Records Act, selective and vindictive prosecution, the unconstitutional vagueness of 18 U.S.C. § 793(e), due process violations, prosecutorial misconduct, impermissible pre-indictment delay, the illegal raid at Mar-a-Lago, and improper violations of President Trump's attorney-client privilege."
Trump's lawyers intend to submit them all as a consolidated brief "via email on the night of February 22, 2024, with a hard copy of the February 22 submission to be filed temporarily under seal with the clerk of the court on February 23."
"For the sake of efficiency and in order to avoid requiring separate filings for each motion, President Trump respectfully requests permission to file a single consolidated brief in support of his pretrial motions not to exceed the 200 pages in aggregate," the brief states.
They would also file "a redacted version of the consolidated brief on the public docket on the night of February 22."
The public version would be censored because of the highly classified documents being discussed in the case.
Newsweek sought email comment from Trump's attorney on Wednesday.
The notice to Judge Cannon was filed by Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Christopher Kise.
Trump's lawyers also informed Cannon that Trump's co-accused, Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, "plan to file additional pretrial motions in separate briefs."
On February 8, Smith complained to Cannon of a "relentless and misleading" ploy by Trump and his co-accused to delay the trial.
In a court filing, he said they "will stop at nothing to stall the adjudication of the charges against them by a fair and impartial jury of citizens."
In November, Smith complained to Cannon that Trump wanted to delay the case "at any cost."
If Trump is elected president, he has several options to end the case, including appointing a favorable attorney general to drop the prosecution.
He can also seek to pardon himself or ask the Supreme Court to delay the case until he is out of office.
About the writer
Sean O'Driscoll is a Newsweek Senior Crime and Courts Reporter based in Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. law. ... Read more