Trump’s lawyers on Wednesday afternoon attended a hearing in Fort Pierce, Florida on whether Judge Cannon will agree to postpone the classified documents trial currently scheduled for May 2024.
On Tuesday, Trump and his attorneys visited a SCIF (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility) to view classified material related to Jack Smith’s case ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, according to a leak to ABC News.
Judge Aileen Cannon last month paused litigation in Jack Smith’s classified documents case as she decides whether to grant Trump’s motion to extend deadlines related to classified material.
Last month Trump attorneys Chris Kise and Todd Blanche accused Jack Smith’s prosecutors of using dilatory tactics to slow-roll the discovery process and taking too long to turn over evidence. Blanche and Kise said the May trial date makes the schedule “unworkable,” according to the motion reviewed by The Gateway Pundit.
“On July 18, 2023, the Special Counsel’s Office represented to the Court that ‘all’ discovery would be available on ‘day one.’” Trump’s lawyers wrote last month.
Blanche and Kise also said Jack Smith’s Florida classified docs trial set for May 20 and his separate March 4 DC trial regarding Trump’s so-called effort to stop the transfer of power set for March 4 require “Trump and his lawyers to be in two places at once.”
“The March 4, 2023 trial date in the District of Columbia, and the underlying schedule in that case, currently require President Trump and his lawyers to be in two places at once,” Trump’s lawyers wrote, according to CBS News. “And, months after the Office’s representation to the Court, discovery is not complete in this case—including with respect to the classified documents at issue in more than 25% of the [Espionage Act] counts in the Superseding Indictment.”
Of course, this was Jack Smith’s plan all along. Make it impossible for Trump’s lawyers to navigate between Washington DC and Florida by scheduling court dates on top of each other.
On Wednesday Judge Cannon signaled she may postpone Trump’s trial. She also admonished one of Jack Smith’s prosecutors, according to Julie Kelly who attended Wednesday’s hearing.
Judge Cannon appeared skeptical about special counsel’s assurances the March 4 trial date for DC case won’t run into May 20 trial date for classified documents case.
She admonished DOJ’s Jay Bratt for his “level of understanding to these realities.”
She also asked for an…
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) November 1, 2023
Judge Cannon is considering a modified trial schedule although she did not issue a ruling on Wednesday.
NEW: Just left classified docs case hearing in Judge Cannon courtroom. She will consider a modified trial schedule given numerous issues including voluminous discovery, discovery delays, late delivery of secure location to review evidence and Trump’s conflicting trial schedules.
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) November 1, 2023
CNN reported:
The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago document-mishandling case cast doubt on the viability having a trial in May 2024, signaling she may postpone the criminal proceedings.
During a hearing Wednesday in south Florida, US District Judge Aileen Cannon raised concerns that the defense team wouldn’t be able to complete trial preparations between now and the spring as they handle other cases for Trump and a stacked trial schedule.
“I’m having a hard time seeing how this work can be accomplished realistically in this period of time,” Cannon said.
Cannon told Justice Department prosecutor Jay Bratt, who asked to keep the trial schedule as is: “I’m not seeing in your position a level of understanding to these realities.”
Cannon did not issue a ruling in court on Wednesday.
Jack Smith recently indicted Trump on 37 federal counts in Miami in the classified documents case.
Trump was charged with 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information and 6 other process crimes stemming from his conversations with his lawyer.
In July Jack Smith hit Trump with 3 additional charges in a superseding indictment in the classified documents case.
via thegatewaypundit