Florida Judge Aileen Cannon is considering granting former President Donald Trump’s request to postpone the pretrial hearing in the classified documents case.
Trump’s legal team has been actively seeking delays in his cases for several months.
During a hearing on Wednesday, Judge Cannon expressed her reservations about completing all the necessary work within the initially set timeframe, given the current “realities” they are facing.
The trial was originally slated to commence on May 20th, but Trump has been advocating for it to occur after the 2024 presidential election.
Trump, who leads the Republican presidential primary, may also explore the possibility of dismissing the case if he becomes president.
Judge Cannon acknowledged the legal complexities surrounding the handling of classified documents, suggesting that the schedule established in July may now be unrealistic.
“I’m having a hard time seeing how this schedule could work with such compressed schedules of so many trials in multiple jurisdictions,” Cannon said from the bench Wednesday.
As a result, she mentioned her intention to establish a new timeline “as soon as possible.”
However, Smith’s team blasted the decision, with prosecutor Jay Bratt told Cannon, urging her to keep the May 2024 trial date.”
“If you look at what has been done by the defense’s position, they delay as long as they can,” Bratt said.
In court papers, the special counsel’s office stated, “[T]he Government has provided the defendants extensive, prompt, and well-organized unclassified discovery, yielding an exhaustive roadmap of proof of the detailed allegations in the superseding indictment. The vast majority of classified discovery is also available to the defendants.”
Trump’s legal team has been consistently arguing that they are only permitted to review classified documents in a secure room in South Florida.
These documents were discovered at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, and his lawyers have the right to review all the evidence.
While Judge Cannon, who was appointed as a District Court Judge by Trump, recognized the need for “reasonable adjustments” to the deadline, she did not specify any changes or delays to the actual trial date, focusing primarily on pretrial filings.
“Mr. Trump will have to make this trial date work … regardless of his schedule.”
