Special Counsel Rejects Trump’s Trial Delay Request, Cites ‘Distorted Claims’

In the ongoing legal battle involving former President Donald Trump and the handling of sensitive government records after leaving office, Special Counsel Jack Smith and his team of prosecutors have strongly opposed Trump’s request to delay the trial until after the November 2024 presidential election. Smith accused Trump’s lawyers of making “distorted and exaggerated” claims regarding their access to classified information as a basis for seeking the delay.

In their new filing submitted to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing the case in South Florida, federal prosecutors argued that Trump’s lawyers failed to provide a “credible justification” for postponing the trial. They emphasized that the defense’s claims of government noncompliance with discovery obligations were unfounded and that assertions about their inability to review classified information were overstated.

The Justice Department lawyers stated that the “vast majority” of classified material collected during the investigation is accessible to Trump and his co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira. The prosecution also challenged the accuracy of the defense’s claims regarding unclassified information, stating that the facts demonstrated otherwise.

Trump’s lawyers had requested the trial’s delay due to reasons such as the status of discovery, the lack of secure facilities, and ongoing litigation under the Classified Information Procedures Act, which governs the use of classified information in the case. Trump, currently the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, faces 40 charges related to alleged mishandling of sensitive records found at Mar-a-Lago, his South Florida resort, after leaving office in January 2021.

In their response to Trump’s request, the Justice Department lawyers emphasized that they had provided over 1.1 million pages of unclassified documents and surveillance footage from Mar-a-Lago obtained before May. They pointed out that the latest batch of information was turned over promptly. Prosecutors asserted that the defense had complete access to this unclassified discovery, more than seven months before the trial’s scheduled start.

While acknowledging Trump’s entitlement to classified discovery, Smith argued that most of the issues in the case could be addressed primarily with unclassified evidence. He emphasized that the critical aspects, such as why classified materials were taken from the White House, how it happened, what Trump knew, and his intentions, would rely on unclassified evidence.

Trump’s lawyers had claimed that secure facilities for handling classified information were not yet in place, and some team members lacked the necessary clearances. However, prosecutors countered that Chris Kise, a member of the defense team, had received an interim security clearance in July and had been authorized to review classified discovery since September.

In their filing, prosecutors noted that aside from Kise, four lawyers and one legal analyst working on Trump’s case had received final security clearances required to review all documents that led to charges. They mentioned that while all classified discovery had been provided as of Friday, a small set of highly sensitive documents required special measures.

To address these concerns, Smith’s team made a facility in Washington, D.C., available for Trump and his lawyers to review all evidence, including the highly sensitive documents. Additionally, secure facilities in South Florida were expected to be available by the end of the week for the defense team to review and discuss classified information.

Prosecutors also disputed Trump’s lawyers’ claims about lacking access to an approved computer for classified discovery requests and other filings, deeming them “misleading.” They clarified that, apart from a small subset of highly sensitive records, the defense team had access to a classified laptop for addressing the remaining classified material.

In summary, Special Counsel Jack Smith has strongly rejected Donald Trump’s request to delay the trial, asserting that the claims made by Trump’s lawyers about their access to classified information were “distorted and exaggerated.” The trial, set to begin in May 2024, involves allegations related to Trump’s handling of sensitive government records after his presidency.