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Trump [...] claiming he "didn't have a document, per se," and that there "was nothing to declassify" because the papers heard rustling in the tape "were newspaper stories, magazine stories, and articles," not classified documents.
[...] There's no mandatory minimum prison sentence for these charges, which means the judge will have discretion in sentencing.
Republicans Need to Accept Trump Is Clearly Guilty (thedailybeast.com)
So even if she doesn't dismiss the case, Cannon can let him off with a fine---maybe some 'community service'....
The tape makes it pretty clear that it's not a newspaper / magazine story he's showing them---that would make no sense. They clearly see the document. And he says the information in it is classified.
Apparently the document still hasn't been found though. One could try to argue that Trump was making it up, but the tape seems to indicate that the other people in the room were able to read enough of the document to see what it was about---would Trump have printed out a fake classified document with made-up information to make the lie seem more convincing? It seems unlikely. And if his lawyers can't get anyone to testify that that's what happened, they apparently won't be able to present that argument to the jury---not explicitly at least.
OTOH:
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Trump Trial Setting Could Provide Conservative Jury Pool - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Of course it only takes one juror to prevent a conviction....
This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 27 June 2023 - 10:28 PM