Donald Trump arrives at Florida courthouse for hearing on whether to dismiss classified documents case

Former President Donald Trump cut a defiant figure Thursday, raising a fist through the window of his armored car as he arrived at a Florida courthouse for the latest hearing in the classified documents case.

He is accused of hoarding government files at his Mar-a-Lago estate after he left the White House and then obstructing efforts to recover them.

Trump, 77, arrived after a string of legal victories in other cases. On Wednesday, a Georgia judge dismissed six charges in a sweeping conspiracy case against Trump and his allies in connection with their efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

And last week, the Supreme Court ruled that Colorado, or any other state, did not have the power to knock him off the ballot because of the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Trump arrived at the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce shortly before the hearing was set to begin before U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon.

The hearing will focus on interpretations of the Presidential Records Act. Trump’s lawyers say that gave him the authority to designate documents as his personal property and keep them after leaving office.

Special counsel Jack Smith says instead that the charges relate to the president’s records and that the law does not apply to the kind of classified documents obtained from Mar-a-Lago.

In a filing last week, his team said the act “does not exempt Trump from criminal law, authorize him to unilaterally declare highly classified presidential records to be personal records, or protect him from criminal investigations — let alone allow him to prevent a federal record.” investigation with impunity’.

Trump’s legal team hopes Cannon’s ruling will mean the case is thrown out before it even gets to a jury.

And she has previously hinted that his status as former president.

This week, Trump again insisted he did nothing wrong.

In an interview with Newsmax, he said the matter was handled ‘very legally’ before the ‘corrupt’ FBI raided his Florida home in the summer of August 2022.

“I dealt with them,” Trump said. ‘We had a good time. And then all of a sudden they looted this house. They attacked Mar-a-Lago.’

And he said authorities operated with double standards by not pursuing charges against President Joe Biden, who also kept documents after his term as vice president ended.

“But they’re releasing Biden,” he raged.

On Tuesday, Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2024 election.

Recent polls suggest he has a five-point lead over Biden in their 2020 rematch.

The former president faces 40 felony counts in Florida accusing him of knowingly withholding dozens of classified documents and failing to act on demands for their return.