On Friday, a court win was secured for former President Donald Trump when Judge Aileen Cannon approved a postponement for a pre-trial submission deadline concerning classified documents.
Judge Cannon decided to pause the deadline set for Trump’s team under the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA) as she contemplates a potential shift in the pre-trial timeline.
This ruling followed a request by Trump’s lawyers the day before, asking the judge to delay the trial regarding classified documents until after the upcoming presidential election. Currently, the trial date is set for May 20 in Florida, while the 2024 general election is slated for Nov. 5.
The ex-President is set to face charges of unlawfully retaining classified documents, allegations he refutes.
In their plea for an extension, Trump’s lawyers highlighted scheduling clashes, pointing to another legal proceeding in March 2024. They also noted that they haven’t yet obtained all pertinent documents from the prosecuting team.
Trump’s counsel elaborated in their plea, mentioning the challenge of the March 4, 2023 trial in the District of Columbia, which would compel both Trump and his lawyers to be present simultaneously at two different locations.
Furthermore, there were mentions of delays in accessing all classified data from special counsel Jack Smith’s division, an issue which the prosecutors have recognized.
Commenting on this, former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani remarked to Salon, “Trump’s legal team is invoking CIPA as a tactic to postpone the trial. They claim the Special Counsel has not provided the entire discovery, insisting they need to scrutinize all the evidence before proceeding with the CIPA litigation phase.”
