Special Counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday pressed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to grant his request for a speedy trial in former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case for the ninth time.
Smith’s documents case—which accuses Trump of withholding and concealing classified materials that were taken from the White House—is slated to head to court in May. But the former president’s legal team has requested a delay in the proceedings, claiming that the current schedule does not provide sufficient time for the defense to prepare, given the high volume of evidence against Trump in the Florida case.
The former president also maintains that he is innocent of all charges brought against him by federal prosecutors, claiming that the investigation is politically motivated to upset his 2024 reelection campaign.
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Prosecutors have repeatedly argued against Trump’s request for a delay, saying that it is in the public’s best interest to conduct a speedy trial. Cannon, a Trump appointee, has agreed to revisit the trial schedule in March, potentially delaying prosecution until after the 2024 election. Tuesday’s filing from Smith served as a reminder about the current trial timeline—such reports are required under the Speedy Trial Act, read the document.
Smith noted in his filing that the court has already ordered that the current trial timeline applies to Trump’s co-defendants in the case, Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira. Prosecutors also wrote that pretrial procedures have already tolled the speedy trial clock—under federal law, a speedy trial “must commence within 70 days from the date the information or indictment was filed, or from the date the defendant appears before an officer of the court in which the charge is pending.”
According to the document, Trump, Nauta and de Oliveira reviewed Smith’s filing before it was presented to Cannon and “authorized the Government to represent that they concur with it.”
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s campaign team for comment via email on Tuesday.
Cannon has been accused of showing partiality toward the former president in the classified documents case. The Florida judge pushed back several pre-trial hearings related to the case in November, and has said that she is unsure she will be able to keep to the schedule she previously set for the trial.
Later the same month, Cannon announced that she would revisit the May trial start, but agreed with Smith’s team that the law favors “the public’s right to a speedy trial” and has not been persuaded to impose a delay in the trial.
Cannon also ordered the unsealing of documents Smith’s team had filed in the case earlier this month in order to make them public. Prosecutors argued to have the materials remained sealed because they could reveal Smith’s court strategy.
Former DOJ prosecutor Andrew Weissmann previously said that he believes Smith should take action against Cannon and potentially seek to have the judge removed from Trump’s case. Weissmann’s comments followed Cannon’s denial of Smith’s request to have the judge set a deadline for Trump’s Classified Information Procedures Act.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.