Trump loses bids to dismiss classified docs, Georgia election cases

Donald Trump on Thursday afternoon lost two separate attempts to dismiss criminal cases, one in Florida and another in Georgia.

In Florida federal court, Judge Aileen Cannon rejected Trump’s bid to drop charges against him related to his alleged mishandling of hundreds of classified documents after he left the White House.

In a brief order, Cannon wrote that Trump’s argument, which hinged on his interpretation of the Presidential Records Act, was an insufficient basis for dismissal.

That ruling came about two hours after Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee denied Trump’s attempt to dismiss his Georgia election interference case on the grounds that it violated his free speech rights.

The twin losses followed setback Wednesday in New York, where Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan denied a request by Trump to delay his upcoming criminal hush money trial.

That case is set to begin jury selection in less than two weeks. It is the first of Trump’s four criminal cases to go to trial.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee and his legal team have pursued strategies in several of the cases that entailed filing a bevy of motions to delay and dismiss the charges.

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.