(CN) — Donald Trump’s defense attorneys asked to delay proceedings in the Mar-a-Lago case as they prepare a glut of motions seeking to dismiss the charges, including another claim for presidential immunity.
The attorneys said they expect to file motions before a Feb. 22 deadline that relate to “presidential immunity, the Presidential Records Act, President Trump’s security clearances, the vagueness doctrine, impermissible preindictment delay, and selective and vindictive prosecution,” among other issues.
The late Tuesday filing suggested Trump sought to drag out his fight with prosecutors before the May 20 trial date, when the former president will face charges he hoarded classified documents at his Palm Beach, Florida, resort and conspired with two employees to thwart their return to federal custody.
Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith has charged Trump with 40 offenses, mostly violations of the Espionage Act tied to the mishandling of national security documents. His employees, Carlos De Oliveira and Walt Nauta, face obstruction-related charges.
The defendants have pleaded not guilty to charges.
Trump’s attorneys, Todd Blanche of New York City and Christopher Kise at Continental PLLC in Florida, asked U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon Tuesday for more time to file evidentiary motions in the case. They said they needed time to review newly produced discovery and to see if more evidence was forthcoming before deciding on what motions to file.
It was only the latest request for delay as defense attorneys pursued a strategy to stall proceedings until after November’s election. If Trump, the likely Republican presidential nominee, takes back the White House, he could use his executive power to shut down the case.
An argument for presidential immunity in the Mar-a-Lago case would face an uphill battle after three appellate court judges rejected similar claims made in the District of Columbia, where the former president is battling charges he tried to retain power after losing the 2020 election.
The judges said in a 57-page opinion Tuesday that the court could not accept “that the office of the presidency places its former occupants above the law for all time thereafter.”
Defense attorneys have hinted at other potential defenses in past filings.
In a motion filed in January, the attorneys asked for communications between prosecutors and the Biden administration, which they said could reveal a political motivation for the prosecution. They said in the same motion that Trump maintained a “Q” clearance from the Department of Energy after leaving office, which they claimed would allow him to store highly classified materials at Mar-a-Lago.
Federal prosecutors responded last week that the defense painted an “inaccurate” and “distorted picture of events” in its motion by cherry-picking exhibits and selectively quoting from documents.
The “vagueness doctrine” refers to a constitutional rule that requires criminal laws to state explicitly what conduct is punishable. Otherwise, the crime is said to be “void for vagueness.”
The Espionage Act of 1917 prohibits unlawfully possessing or retaining classified documents, as well as the unauthorized communication of national defense information to any person not entitled to receive it.
The law has been challenged in court many times since its passage. In 1941, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Gorin v. United States the vagueness of the Espionage Act did not violate the due process rights of a naval intelligence officer accused of selling classified information to a Soviet spy.
Arguments for preindictment delay relate to efforts by prosecutors to needlessly delay indictment, either by gross negligence or malicious intent, in order to harm a person’s ability to present a compelling defense.
A closed hearing to address access to classified materials in the case is scheduled to begin Monday.
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