Former President Trump's lawyers asked again Wednesday to delay his classified documents case until after the 2024 election, Axios reports. The trial, now scheduled to begin next May, would overlap with the final months of the GOP frontrunner's presidential campaign. In the court filing, Trump's lawyers cite the conflicting scheduling demands between the classified documents case and Special Counsel Jack Smith's separate election interference case. Trump's lawyers said Smith's office "misled the Court this summer by contending that the unprecedented schedule it requested was workable," the filing stated. In addition, Trump's lawyers argued prosecutors haven't turned over all the necessary evidence because they have not been able to review nine of the documents Trump has been charged with illegally retaining.
The new court filing followed a request from Trump's lawyers this month that sought to delay the classified documents trial. The special counsel's office responded this week, arguing that Trump's lawyers' "claims about their inability to review classified information are distorted and exaggerated." There is "no reason" to change the trial date, they added. The judge overseeing the case has not yet ruled on Trump's request. Trump has been charged with 40 counts stemming from the probe into his alleged mishandling of classified documents after he left the White House. The trial is scheduled to begin May 20. A separate federal trial over his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election is set to start on March 4.
Comments