US prosecutors rejected Donald Trump’s attempt to delay a trial over his handling of classified records until after the 2024 presidential election, saying it flies in the face of federal standards requiring “speedy” trials.
(Bloomberg) — US prosecutors rejected Donald Trump’s attempt to delay a trial over his handling of classified records until after the 2024 presidential election, saying it flies in the face of federal standards requiring “speedy” trials.
Trump’s argument that the politically charged nature of the case will make it too difficult to find impartial jurors is a reason “to start the process sooner rather than later,” Special Counsel Jack Smith said in a filing Thursday in Florida seeking to start the trial on Dec. 11.
The potential difficulties for jury selection in such a case “will not appreciably change” after the election, Smith said.
Lawyers for Trump and his co-defendant Waltine “Walt” Nauta agreed with the government that US District Judge Aileen Cannon’s original trial date in August was too soon, but argued in a brief earlier this week that the judge shouldn’t put any date on the calendar at all.
Trump argued the intersection between the Presidential Records Act and the criminal charges has never been addressed in court and will result in a dismissal of the indictment, a claim prosecutors say “borders on frivolous.”
The government also shot down Trump’s argument that an indefinite delay is needed due to the volume of evidence that his lawyers must sift through, as well as potential delays from his team getting the necessary security clearances to view the most sensitive documents.
While prosecutors have handed over more than 800,000 pages of evidence, they pinpointed 4,500 key documents that back the charges, Smith said. And while Trump’s lawyers haven’t yet received the full clearance they need to review all of the 340 classified documents seized from Mar-a-Lago, their interim clearance is sufficient to see most of the evidence, according to the filing.
Prosecutors also pushed back on Trump’s claims that his campaign schedule would interfere with trial preparation.
Read More: Trump Seeks to Delay Documents Trial With Eye to 2024 Election
Trump and Nauta’s “professional schedules do not provide a basis to delay trial in this case,” prosecutors wrote. “Many indicted defendants have demanding jobs that require a considerable amount of their time and energy, or a significant amount of travel.”
The parties are set to make their first appearance before Cannon on July 18.
The case is USA v. Trump, 9:23-cr-80101, US District Court, Southern District of Florida.
(Updates with more details from filing)
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