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Former President Donald Trump is asking the federal judge overseeing his classified documents case in Florida to delay his trial from May 2024 to after the presidential election.
In court papers, Mr. Trump’s attorneys said special counsel Jack Smith has not turned over the evidence, or “discovery,” needed for their defense against charges that Mr. Trump improperly stored sensitive documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate and impeded efforts to return them to archivists.
Attorneys also cited problems with the sensitive compartmented information facility, or SCIF, in Florida where the parties are supposed to review the sensitive documents and said the pile-up of cases against Mr. Trump would require them to be in “two places at once” in early 2024.
For those reasons, Mr. Trump’s side requested a trial date in mid-November 2024 instead of the scheduled start in May.
“There is no good reason to continue on the current path. Therefore, President Trump respectfully submits that the adjournment requests should be granted,” lawyers Christopher Kise and Todd Blanche wrote Wednesday to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who presides in South Florida.
The requested trial date is notable because it would delay the trial until after the 2024 elections. Mr. Trump is the clear front-runner in the Republican primary, putting him on course for a rematch with President Biden.
Some pundits have theorized that Mr. Trump wants to delay criminal proceedings against him so he is not taken off the campaign trail — or so he could try to end proceedings against him or pardon himself if he retakes the presidency in 2025.
The federal indictment in Florida accuses Mr. Trump of 40 counts, including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to object to justice, and false statements. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
His valet, Walt Nauta, is charged with six counts, including conspiracy to obstruct justice. Carlos De Oliveira, an employee at Mar-a-Lago, is accused of hiding security footage of workers moving the classified documents.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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