The Justice Department is opposing former president Donald Trump’s attempt to delay his classified-documents trial until after the 2024 election, arguing his attorneys are making “unfounded claims” about the prosecutors’ lack of cooperation in providing the defense access to evidence in the case.
“Reports, transcripts, and recordings of interviews with potential witnesses—essentially, the blueprint of the Government’s case-in-chief—have been made available within days of arraignment for all defendants, even though the Court’s scheduling order authorizes the Government to delay production of such materials until just before trial,” special counsel Jack Smith’s office wrote in a Monday court filing to U.S. district judge Aileen Cannon.
“The Government’s production of unclassified discovery has been prompt, comprehensive, thorough, and organized. The defense has complete access to it today, more than seven months before trial,” the prosecutors added. “In no way does the government’s record of unclassified discovery production in this case support a continuance.”
Their response comes less than a week after Trump attorneys Todd Blanche and Christopher Kise filed a motion on Wednesday to postpone their client’s Mar-a-Lago trial date “until at least mid-November 2024,” which would be after the presidential election. Cannon previously scheduled the start of the trial for May 20, when the 2024 race is well underway.
Both lawyers claimed Smith’s office was not privy to sharing all evidence, alleging the classified material pertaining to over 25 percent of the superseding indictment’s counts has not yet been handed over. The government said the holdup in accessing the documents was due to their sensitive nature.
“To be sure, the extreme sensitivity of the special measures documents that Trump illegally retained at Mar-a-Lago presents logistical issues unique to this case. But the defendants’ allegations that those logistical impediments are the fault of the [special counsel’s office] are wrong,” the court filing read.
Blanche and Kise also argued, on behalf of Trump, that Smith’s office has failed to arrange “necessary secure facilities” for the defense to review the classified documents.
“Their claims about their inability to review classified information are distorted and exaggerated, and, in any event, the Government expects that the [Classified Information Security Office] will resolve any remaining issues this week,” Smith’s office wrote. “There is no reason to adjourn the trial date. The defendants’ motion should be denied.”
Trump faces 40 federal charges related to his handling of classified documents that were stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after leaving the White House in 2021. The former president also faces four additional counts issued by Smith, as well as 47 state charges brought forward by two separate indictments from district attorneys in Georgia and New York.