By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON, ERIC TUCKER and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER (Associated Press)
FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — A federal choose signaled Tuesday that December could also be too quickly to start former President Donald Trump’s landmark felony trial regarding the mishandling of labeled paperwork, however didn’t say whether or not she would conform to Trump’s request to place the trial off till after the 2024 election.
Judge Aileen Cannon stated she would challenge a written order “promptly” after the practically two-hour listening to in federal courtroom in Fort Pierce, Florida, the place Trump’s attorneys pressed for an indefinite delay of a trial date.
The sparring over setting a trial date, a routine matter in felony instances, underscores the unprecedented nature of prosecuting a former president who can be working to reclaim the White House in 2024.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and slammed the prosecution as an try to harm his marketing campaign.
Trump’s attorneys say the Republican can’t get a good trial forward of the election and demand they want extra time to overview proof and put together for what they describe as a fancy case.
The choose repeatedly pressed Trump’s attorneys to set some dates and a extra concrete timetable, however acknowledged she understood they wanted extra time to overview paperwork and photographs.
“We need to set a timetable,” Cannon stated. “Some deadlines can be established now.”
She additionally questioned prosecutors on whether or not there have been different related instances involving labeled paperwork tried in such a short while body.
Special counsel Jack Smith’s crew, which is pushing for the trial to start in December, instructed the choose the case is just not advanced and there’s no want for a prolonged delay. They rejected insinuations by the protection that Trump was charged as a result of he’s working for president. Prosecutor David Harbach stated there was “no political influence.”
“No one in our team is a political appointee,” he stated, noting that they’re all profession prosecutors.
It was the primary time arguments have been held in entrance of Cannon, who has been underneath elevated scrutiny since a courtroom ruling final yr that critics stated was unduly favorable to Trump. Trump’s co-defendant, Walt Nauta, attended the listening to, however Trump didn’t. He traveled Tuesday to Iowa, the place he was taping a city corridor with Fox News host Sean Hannity.
Trump and Nauta pleaded not responsible earlier than a federal choose in Miami to a 38-count indictment that accuses them of conspiring to cover labeled paperwork from Justice Department investigators that have been taken from the White House to Mar-a-Lago on the finish of Trump’s time in workplace in January 2021.
The courtroom date unfolded hours after Trump disclosed that he had acquired a goal letter from the Justice Department in a separate investigation into efforts by him and his allies to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election. Such letters typically precede an indictment.
Harbach instructed the choose that Trump’s authorized crew has repeatedly urged he must be handled otherwise as a result of he’s working for president.
“He should be treated like anybody else,” Harbach stated. “He is not different than any other busy, important person.”
But Todd Blanche, one in every of Trump’s attorneys, pushed again in opposition to the concept this case be handled like another. Trump’s crew stated it believes the circumstances to make sure a good trial would enhance after the election.
“It is intellectually dishonest to say this case is like any other case,” Blanche stated. “It is not.”
Chris Kise, a Trump lawyer, requested the choose to contemplate the quantity of consideration the case was receiving and whether or not discovering neutral jurors could be attainable earlier than an election. But Cannon stated she wished to first deal with discovery and set a concrete “road map” for the case.
Kise urged assembly once more in November to debate scheduling the trial. As the listening to was about to finish, Kise stated a trial date of mid-November 2024 could be most popular.
Cannon additionally presided over a lawsuit that the Trump crew filed final yr over the August 2022 FBI search of Mar-a-Lago. Cannon drew criticism and second-guessing from authorized specialists for granting Trump’s request for a particular grasp to conduct an unbiased overview of the labeled paperwork eliminated by the FBI from Mar-a-Lago.
A 3-judge federal appeals courtroom later overruled that order and stated she had lacked the authority for such a ruling.
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Tucker reported from Washington and Richer reported from Boston.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”