Judge declines to throw out charges against Trump valet in classified documents case

The federal judge presiding over the classified documents case against Donald Trump has refused to throw out charges against a co-defendant of the former president. Lawyers for Walt Nauta, Trump’s personal valet, had asked U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to dismiss the indictment against their client. They argued, among other things, that Nauta was charged because of a lack of cooperation with prosecutors’ investigation and because of a personal animus that they say prosecutors harbored against one of Nauta’s attorneys. Special counsel Jack Smith’s team has denied all the claims, and Cannon in her four-page order Saturday said Nauta had not met the high bar required to get the case dismissed.