By The opinion
01 Mar 2024, 19:17 PM EST
Lawyers for former President Donald Trump and special counsel Jack Smith’s office argued Friday over changing the trial date, currently scheduled for May 20, in the case of classified federal documents that were involved in Mar-a -Lago, Trump’s residence in Florida, but the judge concluded the hearing without making an immediate decision on when the trial will begin.
District Judge Aileen Cannon heard the parties’ arguments in a Florida court on the trial date and other issues in the case, during a hearing attended by both Donald Trump and prosecutor Jack Smith.
Jay Bratt of the special counsel’s office told the judge that holding the trial before the November election would not violate Justice Department policy.
Bratt pushed for trial begins in Julysaying that, according to what was indicated by the Department of Justice, a trial is allowed because the policy does not apply to matters already chargedreferring to the political charge of the case regarding the trial occurring in an election year.
“We are in full compliance with the Department of Justice manual,” Bratt said.
Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, argued that it would be “unfair” to put Trump on trial for mishandling classified documents before the November election.
“We continue to firmly believe that a trial that takes place before the election is a mistake and should not happen,” Blanche said during the scheduling conference in Fort Pierce, Florida.
Smith, in a presentation Thursday, proposed a new trial date for July 8while Trump’s legal team continues to propose a trial date after the 2024 electionbut he said in his own presentation that August 12 could be an alternativeto whether Judge Cannon disagreed with postponing it until after the election.
Trump watched Friday’s proceedings from a seat at the defense table, hunched forward with his hands clasped on the table.
Smith was sitting behind two prosecutors on his team, Bratt and David Harbach. It was the first time Smith and Trump were in the same room together. since the D.C. Circuit Court heard arguments on presidential immunity.
Trump’s co-defendants, former aide Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago employee Carlos De Oliveira, also attended the hearing.
Judge Cannon promised to consider the requests given the need for “openness” in criminal trials.
“What is clear is that these issues are complicated,” he said before dismissing the parties.
Trump’s lawyers have argued in court papers that the case should be dismissed entirely based on Trump’s claim of presidential immunity, an argument the Supreme Court said Wednesday it would consider in the federal case against the former president for interference in the 2020 election.
Trump pleaded not guilty last June to 37 criminal charges related to his handling of classified materials, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information and took steps to thwart government efforts to recover documents.
Keep reading:
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