Former President Donald Trump's lawyers are using a familiar argument as they urge a Florida judge to dismiss criminal charges related to his handling of classified documents.
Trump's legal team is arguing, in part, that presidential immunity protects him from prosecution.
They've already made that argument in his election interference case. And, the Supreme Court is considering whether to step in and take on the immunity question directly.
Trump faces dozens of felony counts in federal court in Florida, accusing him of illegally hoarding and haphazardly storing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after leaving office, and then obstructing government efforts to retrieve them.
The case is currently set for trial on May 20, but that date could be pushed back. Trump has maintained his innocence in the case, arguing that he was allowed to possess the documents as the former commander-in-chief.
According to a court filing obtained by The Associated Press, "Trump's lawyers wrote that the classified documents charges turn on his alleged decision to designate the papers as 'personal' records under the Presidential Records Act, and argued that he cannot be prosecuted since that was an 'official act' made while he was still in the White House."
The classified documents case is just one of the legal issues the former president is dealing with as he campaigns to be the GOP presidential candidate. He was also indicted earlier this year in Manhattan for an alleged hush money scheme and is also being investigated in Georgia for potentially interfering in the 2020 election. There's also the looming issue of the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot.
All told, Trump is facing 91 felony counts. He has maintained that the indictments are politically motivated stunts designed to stop him from running in the 2024 election.