U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Friday temporarily rejected Trump attorneys’ request to delay the trial start date in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of the ex-president under the Espionage Act, but made clear she would consider another request later.
“The judge in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case says Trump’s team needs more time to review vast amounts of evidence,” The Washington Post reports. Cannon signaled attorneys could request a delay at a scheduling hearing in March. Currently, the trial is set to begin in May. Trump’s attorneys had requested the trial be postponed until after the November, 2024 election, and claimed they need more time because they are also defending the ex-president in Smith’s other prosecution, over Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Judge Cannon wrote, “the Court deems it most prudent, given the evolving complexities in this matter, to adjust the first batch of pre-trial deadlines.” Law & Crime reports she denied Triumph’s “motion to push back trial as ‘premature.’ The denial, however, was issued without prejudice and with the understanding that the motion will be discussed again after the pretrial hurdles are cleared.”
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Cannon added that “evolving and unforeseen circumstances require a reevaluation of the initial period for defense discovery,” and “make plain to the Court what due process requires: Defendants need more time to review the discovery in this case.”
She also wrote, “the Court cannot ignore the realities of pre- trial and trial schedules in two other criminal matters identified by defense counsel.”
Several journalists stressed Judge Cannon declined Trump’s delay request “for now.”
In total, Trump is facing 91 charges across four indictments at the federal and state level.
In the case Judge Cannon is presiding over, Trump is facing 40 felony counts. According to Vox, they include, “32 counts of willful retention of national defense information, which includes keeping classified documents related to military activities and nuclear weapons.”