Trump has pleaded not guilty to mishandling classified documents.
Special counsel Jack Smith has asked the judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case to delay the start of his criminal trial until December.
The request was made in a series of new motions filed Friday afternoon by the special counsel.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon had set a tentative trial date of Aug. 14.
Special Counsel Jack Smith speaks to the press at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, DC, on June 9, 2023, announcing the unsealing of the indictment against former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 37 criminal charges related to his handling of classified material, and prosecutors say he repeatedly refused to turn over hundreds of documents containing classified information ranging from US nuclear secrets to the capabilities of defense of the country
In statements Friday, Smith’s team says it believes pretrial proceedings, including making sure defense attorneys get the security clearances needed to review discovery materials, will realistically take longer time than the August trial date proposed by Judge Cannon earlier this week.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2023, March 4, 2023, at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
Alex Brandon/AP, FILE
They have also asked to file under seal the list of witnesses they believe Trump and his co-defendant, presidential valet Walt Nauta, should be barred from speaking about the case as it moves toward trial.
Notably, the special counsel’s filings describe the case in plain terms, saying it “has only two defendants, involves direct theories of liability, and presents no new issues of fact or law.”
Trump has denied all wrongdoing in the case and dismissed the special counsel’s investigation as a politically motivated witch hunt.
