By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON and ERIC TUCKER (Associated Press)
FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump and prosecutors sparred in court docket Tuesday over when his landmark prison trial in regards to the mishandling of labeled paperwork ought to start, however the decide delay a right away choice.
Judge Aileen Cannon stated she would challenge a written order after the almost two-hour listening to in federal court docket in Fort Pierce, Florida, the place attorneys for Trump pressed for an indefinite delay of a trial date.
Trump’s attorneys say they want extra time to organize for what they describe as a fancy case with an enormous quantity of proof to evaluate. They additionally argue the previous president can’t get a good trial forward of the 2024 election, by which he’s looking for to reclaim the White House.
Prosecutors have proposed that the trial start in December, saying the case just isn’t advanced and there’s no want for a prolonged delay. Prosecutor David Harbach advised the decide that Trump’s authorized workforce has repeatedly steered he ought to be handled otherwise as a result of he’s working for president.
“He should be treated like everyone else,” Harbach stated.
It was the primary time arguments had been held in entrance of Cannon within the unprecedented federal prosecution of the previous president, who can also be going through prices in a separate case in New York. Cannon has been beneath elevated scrutiny since a court docket 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 was touring Tuesday to Iowa, the place he was taping a city corridor with Fox News host Sean Hannity.
The court docket date unfolded hours after Trump disclosed that he had obtained 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.
Trump and Nauta have pleaded not responsible to a 38-count indictment that accuses them of conspiring to cover labeled paperwork from Justice Department investigators that had been taken from the White House to Mar-a-Lago on the finish of Trump’s time in workplace in January 2021.
Cannon additionally presided over a lawsuit that the Trump workforce filed final yr over the August 2022 FBI search of Mar-a-Lago. Cannon drew criticism and second-guessing from authorized consultants for granting Trump’s request for a particular grasp to conduct an impartial evaluate of the labeled paperwork eliminated by the FBI from Mar-a-Lago.
A 3-judge federal appeals court docket later overruled that order and stated she had lacked the authority for such a ruling.
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Tucker reported from Washington.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”