The federal judge presiding over Donald Trump's classified documents case instructed attorneys for the Justice Department and the former president to come prepared Tuesday to discuss their dispute over the trial schedule.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, issued a paperless order on Monday advising both parties to be "prepared to discuss" their disagreement about when the trial should begin at Tuesday's court hearing.
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Trump's team has asked Cannon to delay the trial until after the 2024 presidential election, while the Justice Department has signaled interest in beginning the trial as early as Dec. 11. Cannon initially set a tentative trial date for early August before the parties began their dispute of the start time.
Cannon's order may signal that a concrete date for the trial could be imminent. It also signals that tomorrow's hearing will be partially open to the public.
The purpose of the Tuesday hearing is primarily to ensure Trump's attorneys obtain their security clearances as pursuant to the Classified Information Procedures Act, which is required when a case involves sensitive records related to national security issues.
"Per CIPA, procedures governing classified discovery, including the extent to which the government has to disclose classified information to the defense and the extent to which the defense can seek to introduce classified information, have to be outlined at the beginning of a criminal case," national security lawyer Bradley P. Moss told the Washington Examiner.
While the primary purpose of the hearing will be to determine whether any of the classified paper documents that were previously in Trump's position will be introduced into evidence, Cannon's most recent order also told Trump and the legal team of his co-defendant, Walt Nauta, to be ready to raise any specific objections to the deadlines outlined by the prosecutors.
Political pressure is also mounting on Cannon as she faces the decision of whether to grant or deny Trump's request to delay the trial until after voters decide the presidential election.
She previously raised a significant hurdle for the DOJ's investigation into Trump after she briefly barred prosecutors from using the classified documents they obtained from Mar-a-Lago last August by granting a special master process.
Trump lauded Cannon in an interview on Fox News's Sunday Morning Futures, and he called her a "smart" and "strong" judge in response to whether he believed she would grant his motion.
Cannon was twice overturned by a higher court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, which allowed the DOJ's use of the documents and disbanded the special master.
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Trump pleaded not guilty last month to 37 federal charges in connection to the classified documents case, including 31 counts of willful retention of classified documents under the Espionage Act.
Nauta, Trump's personal aide, pleaded not guilty earlier this month to charges that he schemed with the former president to hide classified records pursued by government authorities.