Trump demands Florida judge DROP the classified documents case because he has 'presidential immunity' and he kept the sensitive files as 'personal records'

Lawyers for Donald Trump have applied his claim of 'presidential immunity' to his classified documents case in Florida, claiming Trump made the former government material 'personal' as an 'official act' before he took it to Mar-a-Lago.

The legal maneuver comes weeks after a federal appeals court ruled against Trump's immunity claim in the separate January 6 case being tried in Washington, D.C. That brought a Trump appeal to the Supreme Court, which could either decide to intervene in the matter or let lower courts go ahead with Trump's trial – which prosecutors want to hold as soon as possible as the election approaches.

'President Trump made this decision while he was still in office. The alleged decision was an official act, and as such is subject to presidential immunity,' his lawyers argue.

'President Trump's alleged decision to designate records as personal under the [Presidential Records Act] and cause them to be removed from the White House — which underlies Counts 1 through 32 of the Superseding Indictment — was an official act by the incumbent president,' Trump's lawyers wrote in a new filing.

Former President Donald Trump's lawyers claim in a new filing that he has 'presidential immunity' from the charges brought against him for willfully retaining national security documents at his Florida golf club

'President Trump is entitled to immunity for this official act and that must include immunity from criminal prosecution,' they added, making the immunity argument for the first time in the Florida case.

Trump has been charged with willfully retaining national defense information after the FBI uncovered classified, secret, and national security information at the former president's private golf club during a search.

The case is being overseen by Trump appointee Judge Aileen Cannon. Trump also filed documents claiming Special Counsel Jack Smith's appointment was unconstitutional. Smith is overseeing both cases.

The appeals court knocked down Trump's immunity claim in a blistering unanimous opinion earlier this month, but Trump's team knocked the decision as 'poorly reasoned.'

Trump designated the documents as 'personal' under the Presidential Records Act, according to his lawyers

Agents removed boxes of material from Trump's private club during a search before his indictment

Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, has set a May trial date. Trump's lawyers asked for a hearing on their new immunity claim

Trump designated the material as 'personal' when he was still in office before it was shipped to Florida, according to the filing

'For the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defenses of any other criminal defendant,' the three-judge panel wrote. 'But any executive immunity that may have protected him while he served as president no longer protects him against this prosecution.'

'We cannot accept former President Trump's claim that a president has unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralize the most fundamental check on executive power — the recognition and implementation of election results,' wrote the panel, which included one appointee of President George W. Bush. 'Nor can we sanction his apparent contention that the executive has carte blanche to violate the rights of individual citizens to vote and to have their votes count.'

The the latest Florida filing, Trump's lawyers argue that his 'decision to designate records as personal and cause them to be removed from the White House' was done within what the Supreme Court has ruled lies within the 'outer perimeter' of his authority.

During a long period of back-and-forth with the National Archives, however, Trump returned multiple other documents being requested by the government. The indictment accuses Trump of concealing information about classified materials held at Mar-a-Lago from his own legal representatives.

Agents seized 15 boxes of material during a February 22 search, including Trump's 'love letters' with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. 

Trump has pleaded not guilty in both the Florida case and the D.C. case.

His lawyers called for a hearing to resolve any factual disputes, which could push back the timing of the case. Trump's trial is scheduled to begin in May. 

Trump's filing is signed by lawyers Todd Blanche and Chris Kise.