Trump drags Mike Pence into Mar-a-Lago case, says former VP kept classified documents, too

FORT PIERCE — In his latest attempt to undo the charges against him, former President Donald Trump invoked the names of political rivals who he says retained classified documents and received no more than a slap on the wrist. Chief among them: President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence.

Trump could spend years in federal prison if he's convicted of hoarding classified documents in his Mar-a-Lago estate, but the former president argued in a motion Thursday that the only thing he's guilty of is being Biden's "chief political rival."

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee again asked U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to dismiss the 40-count indictment against him and cut short what he and his supporters have deemed a vindictive prosecution. Trump is the only former president or vice president prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice for mishandling classified documents.

He is also, prosecutors say, the only one to engage in a "multifaceted scheme of deception and obstruction" to thwart those documents' safe return.

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Trump attorneys Todd Blanche and Chris Kise gave Cannon a list of other former officials who they say acted similarly to Trump, but against whom "no one in the government lifted a finger." Special Counsel Robert Hurr declined to press charges against Biden despite finding evidence that he retained and disclosed highly classified materials when he was a private citizen.

The lawyers took aim at Trump's former vice president, too, telling Cannon that Pence told the National Archives and Records Administration he accidentally brought home a small number of classified documents after his term in the White House ended. Relations between Trump and Pence have become strained since Pence refused to overturn Trump's loss to Biden in Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.

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Blanche and Kise further wrote that allegations that Trump tried to stymie a federal investigation aren't unique, either. They pointed to Hillary Clinton, who used a private email server for official communication during her tenure as secretary of state.

She and her team deleted thousands of emails they deemed personal before turning over others to the State Department. Kise wrote that some emails were deleted after Congress issued a preservation order, though the extent and timing of such deletions are disputed.

"Collectively, this history of non-prosecution and leniency for similarly situated individuals and others strongly supports President Trump’s motion based on intolerable and unconstitutional selective and vindictive prosecution," Kise wrote.

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Special Counsel Jack Smith said in reply that Trump's conduct "went much further" than those who retained classified documents through inadvertence or carelessness and returned them upon their discovery.

Smith acknowledged what he called "superficial similarities" between Trump's case and Biden's: Both involve classified materials stored in cardboard boxes in an unsecured location, posing "serious risks to national security.” Both also involve a recording capturing the discussion of classified information with a ghost writer.

Unlike Biden, Smith said Trump engaged in repeated efforts to obstruct justice and thwart the return of classified documents, including recruiting his subordinates to join in the conspiracy. The prosecutor argued that additional distinctions — relating to the volume, sensitivity and storage of the classified documents — support his position that the two cases are not “nearly identical” and there are “legitimate reasons for viewing them differently.”

Trump can blame his prosecution on the fact that "he flagrantly and repeatedly broke the law," Smith wrote — not because Biden wants him dealt with.

Cannon did not immediately rule on the motion. The Trump-appointed judge has yet to rule on several outstanding issues, including numerous other motions to dismiss the case and a joint motion to reschedule the trial, which is currently set to begin in late May.

Hannah Phillips is a journalist covering public safety and criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com.