President Biden spent the day in San Francisco at an event discussing artificial intelligence. Asked by a reporter if he had spoken to his son, the president simply said, “I’m very proud of my son”, echoing statements he had previously made when asked about Hunter’s legal woes.
Judge sets trial date for Trump documents case
News of the plea deal came on the same day that a federal judge set a tentative trial date of August 14 for Trump’s documents case to move forward.
A protestor holds a “Lock Him Up” sign outside the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. United States Courthouse in Miami, Florida,Credit: Bloomberg
If the trial goes ahead at that time, it would likely clash with the first Republican primary debate of the election season, where Trump is vying for the party’s presidential nomination against a field of rivals that include Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former vice president Mike Pence and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley.
However, the date set by federal judge Aileen Cannon is likely to be delayed by extensive pretrial negotiations between the parties, including over how to handle classified material as part of the discovery process.
Trump, meanwhile, continues to maintain his innocence, and in a combative interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier this week, the former president said he had been reluctant to hand over boxes of classified documents because he needed to sort through them to remove personal items, including golf shirts and shoes.
“I wanted to go through the boxes and get all my personal things out. I don’t want to hand that over to NARA (National Archives and Records Administration) yet. And I was very busy as you’ve sort of seen,” he said.
“Before I send the boxes over, I have to take all of my things out. These boxes were interspersed with all sorts of things. Golf shirts, clothing, pants, shoes.”
“Iran war plans?” Baier asked.
“Not that I know of,” the former president said. “But everything was declassified.”
The interview was the first to take place after Trump was last week charged with 37 counts relating to classified documents he took after leaving the White House in 2021.
Former president Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to 37 federal charges of mishandling classified documents.Credit: AP
They included information about nuclear programs and military vulnerabilities, and intelligence that should have only been shared with the “Five Eyes” countries, including Australia.
According to the indictment, the documents were stored in boxes all over Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, including “in a ballroom, a bathroom and shower, an office space, his bedroom, and a storage room”.
Thirty-one of the 37 charges relate to the “wilful retention” of classified material in violation of the Espionage Act, a national security law that has been used to target leakers of government secrets, which comes with a maximum 10-year jail term.
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