Donald Trump’s attorneys urge postponement of Federal trial start date until after 2024 election
Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys want to delay the start of a federal criminal trial until after the 2024 election and are asking a judge to postpone setting any date for the start of the proceedings.
“Proceeding to trial during the pendency of a Presidential election cycle wherein opposing candidates are effectively (if not literally) directly adverse to one another in this action will create extraordinary challenges in the jury selection process and limit the Defendants’ ability to secure a fair and impartial adjudication,” his attorneys wrote in a filing late on Monday.
The federal government is calling for a trial start date in December, but Trump’s team says that it would be “nearly impossible to prepare” for such a timeframe, given other scheduled criminal and civil trials on the former president’s calendar, as well as for his attorneys.
“Proceeding to trial on December 11, 2023, would deny counsel for the Defendants the reasonable time necessary for effective preparation and ‘result in a miscarriage of justice’, his attorneys wrote.
It will be up to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to decide when and if to set a trial date at this point. She had initially set a date of August 14 for the trial to start, but that was viewed as likely to change.
Trump pleaded not guilty to the 37-count indictment at an arraignment last month. An aide, Walt Nauta, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment last week. Nauta’s attorneys also are urging a postponement of the trial date.
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“President Trump is running for President of the United States and is currently the likely Republican Party nominee,” the attorneys wrote. “This undertaking requires a tremendous amount of time and energy, and that effort will continue until the election on November 5, 2024. Mr. Nauta’s job requires him to accompany President Trump during most campaign trips around the country. This schedule makes trial preparation with both of the Defendants challenging. Such preparation requires significant planning and time, making the current schedule untenable and counseling in favor of a continuance.”
The charges have to do with Trump’s retention of classified documents after he left the White House. Prosecutors claim that even after he was issued a subpoena, Trump withheld the material. The documents included highly classified secrets, including those related to nuclear capabilities.
The trial is scheduled to take place in Fort Pierce, FL. A pre-trial conference is scheduled for July 18.
