Donald Trump’s lawyers have asked a federal judge for an indefinite postponement of his trial on charges related to his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House, arguing he cannot get a fair trial before the presidential election of 2024.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon originally set the trial date for August 14. Lawyers for the Justice Department have proposed a delay until Dec. 11 because Trump’s lawyers must obtain security clearances before they can study all of the documents at stake in the case.
But Trump’s lawyers, led by Christopher Kise, argued that the evidence at stake was already voluminous, and more is on the way. Trump and his co-defendant, personal valet Walt Nauta, are busy with the presidential campaign. And Trump must prepare for more criminal and civil trials.
“Here, there is no doubt that any trial of this action pending the presidential election will impact both the outcome of that election and, more importantly, the defendants’ ability to obtain a fair trial.” , Trump’s lawyers wrote. “The government’s request to initiate a trial of this magnitude within six months of the indictment is unreasonable, revealing and would result in a miscarriage of justice.”
The government’s response is expected on Monday.
Here’s what we know about the schedule so far:
Unprecedented federal charges against Trump
In an unprecedented case of federal charges against a former president, Trump and Nauta were charged on June 8 with 38 counts, including retaining national defense documents, conspiracy to obstruct justice and concealment of records.
Trump’s lawyers have argued that many issues in the case will be argued for the first time in federal court. According to Cannon’s decision and the appeals courts, Trump’s lawyers argued that the charges could be dismissed.
“This extraordinary case represents a serious challenge to both the fact and the perception of our American democracy,” Trump’s attorneys wrote.
Government releases evidence in stages ‘due to volume’
One of the reasons Trump’s lawyers have argued against scheduling a trial yet is because they have to sift through the mountains of evidence already gathered, and more is on the way. The government plans to provide evidence to defense attorneys “in stages due to the sheer volume of material being collected,” Trump’s lawyers said.
The government provided 833,450 pages of unclassified documents, including 122,650 emails and attachments and 305,670 files collected from 90 different repositories. Prosecutors also provided approximately nine months of CCTV footage.
Once Trump’s lawyers receive security clearances, classified documents will be added to that pile. Trump’s lawyers called the government’s schedule “unrealistic” for reviewing classified documents.
And Trump’s lawyers argued there was no urgency requiring a speedy resolution of the case because “there is a continuing threat to national security interests” or concerns about “the prosecution of criminal activity”.
Trump lawyers: Other national security cases took longer to prepare
Trump’s attorneys pointed to two other cases involving classified documents that took more than six months to prepare.
Reality Winner’s trial was scheduled 16 months after her indictment in June 2017, although she ultimately argued for the removal of classified documents from a government facility and their release to a news agency. Ji Chaoqun’s trial for acting as a Chinese agent was held three years and nine months after his indictment.
“The delays in these two cases stand in stark contrast to the government’s proposed six-month delay in this case,” Trump’s lawyers said.
Trump must also prepare for a civil trial in New York State in October 2023 and a criminal trial in New York State in March 2024 for falsifying business documents.
Prosecutors: Trump case is ‘simple’
Government lawyers led by Special Counsel Jack Smith argued in June that a Dec. 11 lead would allow defense attorneys to obtain security clearances and review evidence in the case.
Lawyers said the ‘case is not so unusual or complex’ to require more time as it has only two defendants and ‘involves simple theories of responsibility’ rather than new questions about facts or the case. right.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump calls for indefinite postponement of federal cases trial amid campaign