Florida judge hears Trump lawyers' request to dismiss feds' classified document case

A judge in Florida will hear arguments Thursday on whether to dismiss the federal government's case alleging former President Donald Trump illegally took classified and top-secret documents with him upon leaving the White House. 

Trump's attorneys say their client was entitled to keep such records when he returned to his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, arguing the Presidential Records Act gives him the authority to designate the documents as personal and keep them.

Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith and his team argue the files in question are presidential records, not personal ones, and that the act does not apply to classified and top-secret documents like those kept at his estate, according to the Associated Press.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, is presiding over the case.

Cannon is also expected to hear arguments on a separate but related motion by Trump's lawyers. They argue the basic on which the bulk of the criminal charges are based is unconstitutionally vague as it applies to a former president, the wire service also reports.