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Former President Donald Trump has multiple defenses available to try to beat federal criminal charges of mishandling classified documents and obstructing justice, legal scholars say.
Among the strongest legal options for Mr. Trump are invoking the Presidential Records Act and suppressing notes from one of his attorneys.
The sprawling, 38-count indictment filed last week by special counsel Jack Smith alleges Mr. Trump recklessly handled some of the nation’s most closely guarded secrets, including documents about nuclear programs and the potential vulnerabilities of the U.S. and its allies.
Mr. Trump, who pleaded not guilty to the charges in a Miami federal court on Tuesday, is also accused of blocking the government’s efforts to retrieve the classified materials.
The severity of the charges might make it difficult for Mr. Trump’s legal team to mount a defense, but analysts say there are some avenues open to the former president.
“Obviously, this is a serious case, but I think it is a case that could be won by the defense. There are areas of potential vulnerability for the government,” said Kendal Coffey, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, the same jurisdiction where Mr. Trump has been charged.
Todd Blanche, an attorney representing Mr. Trump in the classified documents case, declined to comment on possible defenses.
Perhaps the strongest defense is one Mr. Trump and his aides have already raised — that the former president could take any documents he wanted under the Presidential Records Act.
The 1978 statute gives the National Archives and Records Administration complete ownership and control of presidential records at the end of an administration. However, the law also makes a distinction between official records and personal documents that a president is allowed to keep upon leaving office.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers could argue that his presidential authority grants him the absolute power to declassify documents, an assertion Mr. Trump has already raised publicly. Once declassified, a president can take government property as personal documents.
“It would radically deflate the government’s case if the defense managed to make a successful argument about the Presidential Records Act,” said Joseph Moreno, a former federal prosecutor.
