Two private citizens on Thursday filed as amici in support of former President Donald Trump‘s motion to dismiss his indictment in the classified documents case in Florida, claiming it’s a “misuse of government funds” that does “not support the people’s interest of justice.”
Jessica Nan Berk and Hilda Tobias Kennedy of Atlantic City, New Jersey, wrote to presiding Judge Aileen Cannon to appear as “amici” for the former president, meaning they are not a party to the case, but believe they have relevant information.
In the motion, Berk and Kennedy self-identify as “disabled, pro se, indigent, private citizens, elderly” who “have knowledge and experience the Court may find helpful.”
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, faces trial after being indicted by Special Counsel Jack Smith on 40 federal charges alleging that he illegally retained classified documents he took after leaving the White House in 2021 and obstructed the government’s efforts to retrieve them. He has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.
Cannon, a Trump appointee, has faced criticism, largely along partisan lines, for delaying the trial and not setting a start date. Recently, she ruled that third-party lawyers Josh Blackman, Gene Schaerr and Matthew Seligman could present arguments at a June 21 hearing on Trump’s motion to dismiss the indictment, which claims that Smith, who brought the charges against Trump, was appointed illegally.
In the motion, Berk and Kennedy write to Cannon that they are “not only renowned activists for progressive issues and disabled rights, but we are victims of discrimination as a disabled person,” later adding, “We can not, in good conscience, see such a waste of money and miscarriage of justice without words spoken, as we have suffered so greatly from our miscarriage of justice ourselves.”
