Former President Donald Trump waves before boarding a private jet at Miami International Airport on June 13, in Miami after his first court appearance in the classified documents case.
Alex Brandon/AP
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Alex Brandon/AP
Former President Donald Trump waves before boarding a private jet at Miami International Airport on June 13, in Miami after his first court appearance in the classified documents case.
Alex Brandon/AP
Attorneys for the Justice Department and former President Donald Trump will meet in Florida for a pre-trial hearing at 2 p.m. ET, which could determine a pivotal moment in the trial. handling confidential documents.
Trump is accused of keeping secret documents after the former president left the White House and refused to turn them over to the US government. He and his servant, Walt Nauta, were also charged with conspiring to obstruct an FBI investigation by moving the boxes to evade government surveillance.
Both men have pleaded not guilty.
Tuesday’s pre-trial hearing is set to address the timing of the federal trial that could coincide with the 2024 presidential election.
Prosecutors want a speedy trial to begin in December. But Trump’s lawyers are seeking a delaythink it would be better to wait until after the 2024 presidential election because Trump is of course running for president of the GOP.
Special counsel Jack Smith previously told Judge Aileen Cannon there was “no basis in law or fact” to postpone the trial indefinitely and urged the court to proceed with jury selection in December. .
Trump’s attorneys also argued that they had a pile of documents to review before the trial and were dealing with a particularly complicated legal case when they were tasked with defending the first former president to face. facing federal charges from the government he once led.
Legal observers are closely watching Tuesday’s hearing as Judge Cannon, Trump’s appointee, has previously been criticized for his lack of experience and ties to the former president.
This hearing comes just hours after Trump announced on his Truth Social social media account that he was the target of a federal grand jury investigation in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election. If he is indicted in this case, he could stand in the 2024 election and face several criminal trials.
