Updates from former President Donald Trump's documents trial, and President Biden cancels more student loans for borrowers.

Prosecutor in Trump classified papers documents calls claims of hostility toward co-defendant 'garbage'

A lawyer for Donald Trump's personal valet accused federal prosecutors Wednesday of targeting the valet because he refused to cooperate against the former president in the classified documents case. A prosecutor called the claim "garbage."

Walt Nauta was charged alongside Trump last year in a federal case accusing them of conspiring to conceal boxes of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's estate in Palm Beach, Florida, Both men have pleaded not guilty.

The case, among four criminal prosecutions against Trump, had been set for trial on May 20, but U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon cited numerous issues she has yet to resolve as a basis for canceling the trial date. Prosecutors and defense lawyers were in court Wednesday for the first time since the judge indefinitely postponed the trial earlier this month.

Stanley Woodward, a lawyer for Nauta, conceded to Cannon that there was insufficient evidence to dismiss the indictment on grounds of vindictive prosecution. But he said there was enough for her to order prosecutors to turn over all communication they had about Nauta to see if hostility existed.

He said he believed his client was only being prosecuted because he refused to testify against Trump and because he asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination by refusing to testify a second time before a grand jury.

"There was a campaign to get Mr. Nauta to cooperate in the first federal prosecution of a former president of the United States, and when he refused, they prosecuted him," Woodward told the judge. "That's a violation of his constitutional rights."

Prosecutor David Harbach, a member of special counsel Jack Smith's team, which brought the case, called Woodward's argument "garbage" and said it was common for defendants to be offered better treatment if they cooperate — a subsequent indictment does not qualify as vindictive prosecution.

"There is not a single bit of evidence of animus toward Mr. Nauta," Harbach told Cannon.

In addition to the Nauta matter, Cannon was to hear arguments on a Trump request to dismiss the documents indictment on grounds that it fails to clearly articulate a crime and instead amounts to "a personal and political attack against President Trump" with a "litany of uncharged grievances both for public and media consumption."

Prosecutors on special counsel Jack Smith's team will argue against that request. Trump, a Republican, was not present for the hearing.

The motion is one of several that Trump's lawyers have filed to dismiss the case, some of which have already been denied.

The arguments come one day after a newly unsealed motion revealed that defense lawyers are seeking to exclude evidence from the boxes of records that FBI agents seized during an August 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago.

The defense lawyers asserted in the motion that the search was unconstitutional and illegal, and the FBI affidavit filed in justification of it was tainted by misrepresentations.

Smith's team rejected each of the accusations and defended the investigative approach as "measured" and "graduated." It said the search warrant was obtained after investigators collected surveillance video showing what it said was a concerted effort to conceal the boxes of classified documents inside the property.

"The warrant was supported by a detailed affidavit that established probable cause and did not omit any material information. And the warrant provided ample guidance to the FBI agents who conducted the search. Trump identifies no plausible basis to suppress the fruits of that search," prosecutors wrote.

The defense motion was filed in February but was made public on Tuesday, along with hundreds of pages of documents from the investigation that were filed to the case docket in Florida.

Those include a previously sealed opinion last year from the then-chief judge of the federal court in Washington, which said that Trump's lawyers, months after the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, had turned over four additional documents with classification markings that were found in Trump's bedroom.

That March 2023 opinion from U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell directed a former lead lawyer for Trump in the case to abide by a grand jury subpoena and to turn over materials to investigators, rejecting defense arguments that their cooperation was prohibited by attorney-client privilege and concluding that prosecutors had made a "prima facie" showing that Trump had committed a crime.

Trump, the GOP presumptive presidential nominee for 2024, has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.

Biden administration canceling student loans for another 160,000 borrowers

The Biden administration is canceling student loans for another 160,000 borrowers through a combination of existing programs.

The U.S. Department of Education announced the latest round of cancellation on Wednesday, saying it will erase $7.7 billion in federal student loans. With the latest action, the administration said it has canceled $167 billion in student debt for nearly 5 million Americans through several programs.

"From day one of my administration, I promised to fight to ensure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity," President Joe Biden said in a statement. "I will never stop working to cancel student debt — no matter how many times Republican-elected officials try to stop us."

The latest relief will go to borrowers in three categories who hit certain milestones that make them eligible for cancellation. It will go to 54,000 borrowers who are enrolled in Biden's new income-driven repayment plan, along with 39,000 enrolled in earlier income-driven plans, and about 67,000 who are eligible through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

Biden's new payment plan, known as the SAVE Plan, offers a faster path to forgiveness than earlier versions. More people are now becoming eligible for loan cancellation as they hit 10 years of payments, a new finish line that's a decade sooner than what borrowers faced in the past.

The cancellation is moving forward even as Biden's SAVE Plan faces legal challenges from Republican-led states. A group of 11 states led by Kansas sued to block the plan in March, followed by seven more led by Missouri in April. In two federal lawsuits, the states say Biden needed to go through Congress for his overhaul of federal repayment plans.

A separate action by the Biden administration aimed to correct previous mistakes that delayed cancellation for some borrowers enrolled in other repayment plans and through Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which forgives loans for people who make 10 years of payments while working in public service jobs.

The Biden administration has been announcing new batches of forgiveness each month as more people qualify under those three categories.

According to the Department of Education, one in 10 federal student loan borrowers has now been approved for some form of loan relief.

"One out of every 10 federal student loan borrowers approved for debt relief means one out of every 10 borrowers now has financial breathing room and a burden lifted," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement.

The Biden administration has continued canceling loans through existing avenues while it also pushes for a new, one-time cancellation that would provide relief to more than 30 million borrowers in five categories.

Biden's new plan aims to help borrowers with large sums of unpaid interest, those with older loans, those who attended low-value college programs, and those who face other hardships preventing them from repaying student loans. It would also cancel loans for people who are eligible through other programs but haven't applied.

The proposal is going through a lengthy rule-making process, but the administration said it will accelerate certain provisions, with plans to start waiving unpaid interest for millions of borrowers starting this fall.

Conservative opponents have threatened to challenge that plan, too, calling it an unfair bonus for wealthy college graduates at the expense of taxpayers who didn't attend college or already repaid their loans.

The Supreme Court rejected Biden's earlier attempt at one-time cancellation, saying it overstepped the president's authority. The new plan is being made with a different legal justification.

Shan Rose and Travaris McCurdy head to runoff in District 5 special election

Candidates Shan Rose and Travaris McCurdy will move on to a runoff election on June 18 after the District 5 Orlando City Commission race Tuesday.

Rose took the lead, but earned 24.8% of the votes, failing to clear the 50% needed to win outright. McCurdy earned 23.3% of the vote. 

Voters in Orlando’s District 5 cast their ballots Tuesday to elect a new city commissioner as seven candidates ran to fill the vacant seat left by suspended commissioner Regina Hill.

The winner will serve until her criminal case is resolved or until the end of the term next year.

Voters say they view this special election as a fresh start, and want someone to embrace the community’s history, while ushering them into the future.

“I want to make sure we preserve the legacy of this community,” District 5 resident Crystal Priester said. 

Priester comes from a family that many know of in District 5.

Her grandfather, Father Nelson Pinder, known as the Street Priest, began his Orlando ministry in 1959. He organized protests and sit-ins during the civil rights movement in Orlando.

He created a community — one his granddaughter says she is still fighting for.

“Affordable housing is extremely important," Priester said. "As we all know, the prices have skyrocketed. So, making sure to come to some type of middle ground so residents and other people that may want to come into this community are able to afford the housing, because it’s critical at this time."

Priester said she also wants the new commissioner to keep a close eye on the $500 million mixed-use sports complex being built across from the Kia Center.

“We want to make sure that local businesses and nonprofits are included in the decision-making process,” she said. 

Zac Alfson recently moved to the area in 2020, but said there is no place like District 5.

“I think more than anywhere I’ve ever lived, there’s a great sense of community,” he said. 

While he’s still new to the area, he has already seen the needs of the community.

“Affordable housing," Alfson said. "Attainable housing is at the top of the list."

Alfson said he’s looking for a commissioner who can preserve the district’s history while looking toward the future.

“I have wonderful neighbors," he said. "I love everything that’s happening around us and we need good leadership to make sure that continues on the right path."

Alfson and Priester said they hope others will vote for a candidate who will fight for the district on those important topics.

“I hope that when others who haven’t voted hear that, they’ll want to get out and make sure that their voice is heard," Priester said. "The only way that we can make a difference is to make sure that we’re doing our civic duty and voting is a part of that. So, I feel like they really don’t have a place to complain if you haven’t done your part."