Trump's attorneys accused of 'hijacking' classified documents hearing

NEW DELHI: Donald Trump's classified documents case reached a heated conclusion after prosecutor for special counsel Jack Smith accused former President's lawyers of hijacking the hearing with far-fetched allegations about the case.
On the third and final day of the hearing, the prosecutor accused Trump's legal team of "hijacking" the proceedings with far-fetched allegations unrelated to the matters before the court.US District Judge Aileen Cannon quickly intervened, stating, "There is no hijacking going on -- it's about to end."
According to ABC news, Judge Cannon convened the hearings to consider the defense's requests for case dismissal and limitations on prosecutors' use of selected evidence. Trump, who pleaded not guilty last year to 40 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials after leaving the White House, has denied all charges and called the probe a political witch hunt.
During the 90-minute hearing, Cannon appeared skeptical of the defense's arguments that the evidence seized from Mar-a-Lago should be tossed due to a lack of specificity in the search warrant. She repeatedly told Trump's lawyers that their arguments seemed "far afield" and that she was "unclear" about how they believed the warrant and search should have been conducted.
Trump's lawyers argued that the FBI agents were given vague instructions, the search warrant affidavit omitted key details, and the raid went too far by including searches of the bedrooms of Trump's wife and youngest son. However, Cannon questioned the relevance of the property's size and pushed the prosecutor to explain why the search extended to the bedrooms, ABC news reported.
The prosecutor, David Harbach, admitted there was no direct evidence of boxes being moved to the child's room but argued that it would have been irresponsible not to search there given the belief that Trump stored boxes in odd locations. He insisted that there was no rummaging during the search.
Cannon appeared unconvinced by the defense's argument that prosecutors made significant omissions in the search warrant application, remarking that she was "failing to see why adding into the affidavit the undisputed and obvious point" would make a difference. She emphasized that the key issue was Trump's post-presidency handling of classified documents.
according to the report, despite Cannon's previous rulings supporting the defense, she signaled a willingness to side with prosecutors on the issue of the search, stating that she had a "hard time" buying the defense's argument. The hearing grew tense as both sides made their arguments, with Cannon urging them to stay focused on the motion at hand.
The admissibility of notes by Trump's former lead attorney, Evan Corcoran, was not addressed during the public portion of the hearing, but Cannon noted that the topic of "presumptively privileged material" was discussed under seal during the morning session.
Judge Cannon concluded the hearing without issuing any ruling from the bench, leaving the outcome of the defense's requests uncertain.