Justice Department proposes December date for Trump’s trial in classified documents case
Special counsel Jack Smith has asked a federal judge to move back the start of the trial of former President Donald Trump and his co-defendant, Walt Nauta, in the classified documents case from August to Dec. 11, according to a Justice Department filing made public late Friday.
The proposal still calls for a relatively speedy timetable; Judge Aileen M. Cannon’s earlier ruling set the initial trialdate at Aug. 14, but it was considered something of an administrative place holder, with both sides anticipating proceduraldelays.
In their filing, prosecutors said the additional time is needed to obtain security clearances for defense lawyers and deal with procedures around classified evidence. It would also give defense lawyers more time to review the volumes of material prosecutors have turned over to them, the filing said.
Mr. Smith and his team arguedin the filing that the trial shouldbe fast-tracked despite
its enormous political implications, because it “involves straightforward theories of liability, and does not present novel questions of fact or law,” nor is it particularly “unusual or complex” from a legal perspective.
Mr. Smith’s team also provided the defense lawyers with its first estimate of the number of witnesses — 84 — whomight be called.
Prosecutors requested that the names be kept under seal, cautioned that the tally “does not comprise all of the witnesses the government might call at trial,” and said the defense had reserved the right to challenge those on the list.
The special counsel also set into motion mandated procedures under the Classified Information Procedures Act that will give lawyers for Mr. Trump and Mr. Nauta, Mr. Trump’s valet and personal aide, access to classified evidence the government plans to present at trial. The classified documents are a key component of the case against Mr. Trump, in which he faces charges of risking national defense secrets and obstruction over his retention of the material after he left the White House and his refusal to return it.
The defense may not share the prosecution’s urgency, and prosecutors said in their filing that defense lawyers planned to object to the special counsel’s timeline. If a trial drags past the 2024 election and Mr. Trump wins the race, he could, in theory, try topardon himself, or he could direct his attorney general to drop the charges and wipe outthe case.
The filing comes just before the formal arraignment in Miami federal court of Mr. Nauta, scheduled for Tuesday.