Trump admits ‘various people’ saw ‘papers and boxes’ brought from White House - CNBC

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Judge Aileen Cannon (L), and Former President Donald Trump (R).

Source: US Courts (L) | Getty Images (R)

A Florida federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump rejected his request — for now, at least — to delay the scheduled May 20 start of his criminal trial for keeping classified government documents after he exited the White House.

Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case, arguing that he had the right to take whatever he wanted from the White House.

On Friday, Trump went a step further and acknowledged that "various people" in and around the club saw the "papers and boxes" that he took with him, which prosecutors say contained 1,545 pages of classified material.

"Of course they did! They may have been the boxes etc. that were openly and plainly brought from the White House, as is my right under the Presidential Records Act," Trump posted on social media.

Under the Presidential Records Act, which became law in 1978, "any records created or received by the President as part of his constitutional, statutory, or ceremonial duties are the property of the United States government and will be managed by NARA at the end of the administration," the National Archives notes on its website.

"Under the PRA, the official records of the President and his staff are owned by the United States, not by the President," the site says. The Archives is required under the law to take custody of these records when a president, including Trump, leaves office.

Trump is charged in the case with retaining classified government documents after his presidency ended in January 2021 and taking steps with employees of his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida to prevent government officials from recovering them.

In a ruling Friday, Judge Aileen Cannon said she would reconsider her decision next spring, after a hearing in the case March 1. That is just three days before Trump's trial in another federal criminal case is scheduled to begin in Washington, D.C., related to the aftermath of the 2020 election.