According to seasoned civil rights attorney Leo Terrell, former President Donald Trump may just have a legal ace up his sleeve that could topple the federal charges against him. These charges, brought forth by special prosecutor Jack Smith, pertain to the alleged mishandling of classified documents.
In a recent preview of the Fox News show “Life, Liberty & Levin,” set to air Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, Terrell discussed the potentially game-changing implications of the Presidential Records Act. He suggested that Trump invoking this act could result in an “outright dismissal of these frivolous charges.”
Introduced in 1978 and subsequently amended in the 1990s, the Presidential Records Act grants a president custodial rights and managerial authority over their records during their time in office. Following a president’s tenure, these records are transferred to the custody of the Archivist of the United States.
According to Terrell, this act clears Trump of the charges. As he elaborates, “President Trump had the absolute right to declassify any and all documents in his custody, control, and possession.” Terrell further notes that the prosecution has not responded to this particular point, implying they simply have no valid counter-argument. In his view, invoking this act could mean “game over” for the prosecution.
Adding a political dimension to his argument, Terrell suggests the prosecution’s objective is not simply to enforce the law but also to obstruct Trump’s potential return to the Oval Office. He points to a coordinated effort involving figures such as Joe Biden, Merrick Garland, Christopher Wray, the Democratic party, and left-leaning media to derail Trump’s political comeback.
Recently, Trump’s legal team requested the trial be delayed until after the 2024 presidential elections. They argued that conducting a trial amidst the election cycle, where opposing candidates are, in essence, each other’s adversaries in this case, would present unprecedented challenges. This, they asserted, could hamper their ability to secure a fair and unbiased adjudication. However, the prosecutors have rebuffed this line of argument.
In response, the Justice Department maintains its faith in the court’s capacity to structure a comprehensive and effective jury selection process. They believe in the prospective jurors’ ability to make decisions based on the evidence presented and guided by the court’s legal instructions. They do acknowledge that jury selection, in this case, might require additional measures and time but argue that this is a reason to start sooner rather than later.
As this legal chess match unfolds, it will be interesting to see if the Presidential Records Act does indeed turn out to be Trump’s trump card, offering him a path to clear his name and possibly reclaim the presidency.
