Special counsel Jack Smith told a federal judge Thursday that there was no reason to postpone scheduling a trial date in the classified documents case against Donald Trump, in a court filing that aggressively rejected the reasons the former president and his co-defendant gave for why the trial should be delayed.
The Smith team, which is seeking a mid-December trial date, accused the defendants of giving a “misleading” picture of the amount of evidence that has been handed over by prosecutors to the defendants in the case. Trump and his co-defendant Walt Nauta cited the need for more time to go through the evidence as a reason for pushing back setting a trial date.
The prosecutors also railed against the suggestion by Trump’s and Nauta’s lawyers that it would not be possible to seat a fair jury before the 2024 election, as Trump is running to return to the White House.
“Our jury system relies on the Court’s authority to craft a thorough and effective jury selection process, and on prospective jurors’ ability and willingness to decide cases based on the evidence presented to them, guided by legal instructions from the Court,” the special counsel’s filing said.
“To be sure, the Government readily acknowledges that jury selection here may merit additional protocols (such as a questionnaire) and may be more time-consuming than in other cases, but those are reasons to start the process sooner rather than later.”
Trump faces charges related to his alleged willful retention of national defense information. He and Nauta also face charges stemming from alleged attempts to hide the materials and to obstruct the investigation into the documents. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty,
The fiery new filing comes ahead of a Tuesday hearing in the case – the first before US District Judge Aileen Cannon, who will preside over the…
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