Trump’s Presidential Records Act argument could be resurrected at trial even as the judge denied his motion to dismissprosecution on charges of retaining classified documents denied his effort to have the case dismissed on the contention that the Presidential Records Act allowed him to transform them as personal property and possess them at his Mar-a-Lago club.
The way the jury might be directed has become a major source of anxiety for prosecutors in the office of special counsel Jack Smith, after the judge last month ordered both sides to draft jury instructions envisioning two possible scenarios that gave extraordinary credit to Trump’s defenses. Even more crucial is if Cannon actually uses such instructions at trial, because if that happens after the jury is sworn in, double jeopardy protections for Trump would kick in. If Trump is then acquitted, prosecutors would not be allowed to retry the case.