Lawyers for former President Donald Trump asked a federal judge on Monday night to indefinitely postpone his trial on charges of illegally retaining classified documents after he left office, saying that the proceeding should not begin until all “substantive motions” in the case had been presented and decided. The written filing — submitted 30 minutes before its deadline of midnight — presents a significant early test for Judge Aileen Cannon, the Trump-appointed jurist who is overseeing the case.
If granted, it could have the effect of pushing Trump’s trial into the final stages of the presidential campaign in which he is now the Republican front-runner or even past the 2024 election. The timing could be hugely consequential in Trump’s case, in which he stands accused of illegally holding on to 31 classified documents after leaving the White House and obstructing the government’s repeated efforts to reclaim them.
There could be complications of a sort if Trump is a candidate in the last legs of a presidential campaign and a federal criminal defendant on trial at the same time. If the trial is pushed back until after the election and Trump wins, he could try to pardon himself after taking office or have his attorney general dismiss the matter entirely.
The request for an open-ended delay to the trial of Trump and his co-defendant, Walt Nauta, a personal aide, presents a high-stakes question for Cannon. Trump’s lawyers pitched their request to Cannon as a means of safeguarding democracy. The lawyers took note of the unusual intertwining of law and politics in the case, suggesting that Trump’s status as a presidential candidate should be factored into the timing of the trial. “Nauta’s job requires him to accompany Trump during most campaign trips,” they said. “This schedule makes trial preparation challenging. Such preparation requires significant planning and time,” the lawyers said.
If granted, it could have the effect of pushing Trump’s trial into the final stages of the presidential campaign in which he is now the Republican front-runner or even past the 2024 election. The timing could be hugely consequential in Trump’s case, in which he stands accused of illegally holding on to 31 classified documents after leaving the White House and obstructing the government’s repeated efforts to reclaim them.
There could be complications of a sort if Trump is a candidate in the last legs of a presidential campaign and a federal criminal defendant on trial at the same time. If the trial is pushed back until after the election and Trump wins, he could try to pardon himself after taking office or have his attorney general dismiss the matter entirely.
The request for an open-ended delay to the trial of Trump and his co-defendant, Walt Nauta, a personal aide, presents a high-stakes question for Cannon. Trump’s lawyers pitched their request to Cannon as a means of safeguarding democracy. The lawyers took note of the unusual intertwining of law and politics in the case, suggesting that Trump’s status as a presidential candidate should be factored into the timing of the trial. “Nauta’s job requires him to accompany Trump during most campaign trips,” they said. “This schedule makes trial preparation challenging. Such preparation requires significant planning and time,” the lawyers said.