Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys asked for a long delay in the trial over his handling of classified documents on Monday, claiming any further legal action could make it impossible to sit an impartial jury and result in a “miscarriage of justice.”
Lawyers representing Trump and his co-defendant, his aide Walt Nauta, filed a 12-page request for the delay after the Justice Department suggested its own proposal for the trial to begin Dec. 11. Trump was indicted on 37 federal counts linked to the boxes of classified documents taken to his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida after his presidency and his alleged efforts to prevent the government from retrieving them.
“This extraordinary case presents a serious challenge to both the fact and perception of our American democracy,” the attorneys, Christopher Kise and Todd Blanche, wrote. “The Court now presides over a prosecution advanced by the administration of a sitting president against his chief political rival, himself a leading candidate for the Presidency of the United States.”
The attorneys said there was “no reason” for an expedited trial, arguing that the Justice Department’s request for the December start would be “unreasonable.” They asked that no date be set while pre-trial motions and hearings move ahead, and the filing suggests that no start date would be suitable until after the 2024 election.
“President Trump is running for President of the United States and is currently the likely Republican Party nominee,” the filing reads. “This undertaking requires a tremendous amount of time and energy … This schedule makes trial preparation with both of the Defendants challenging.”
The lawyers also argued that Trump’s bevy of other legal problems make it “nearly impossible” to prepare for the documents case in time, claiming it would be extraordinary difficult to sit an impartial jury during an election season.
“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,” the attorneys wrote.
Trump has vehemently rejected the charges and has pleaded not guilty on all counts. He has regularly attacked special counsel Jack Smith’s inquiry as yet another witch hunt against him.
Smith’s request for the December trial appeared to reject many of Trump’s arguments in advance, saying the government’s case “involves straightforward theories of liability, and does not present novel questions of fact or law.”
The next hearing in the matter is set for Friday, although the attorneys on Monday asked for a delay until next week to account for Nauta’s attorney.