Special Counsel Jack Smith has requested that former President Donald Trump stand trial on the federal indictment charging him with illegally keeping national security secrets and obstruction of justice beginning in December.
Prosecutors stated in a court filing Friday night that the case’s use of secret material makes an earlier start for the trial unrealistic, and they proposed starting jury selection on December 11.
US District Court Judge Aileen Cannon issued an order earlier this week ordering Trump’s trial to begin on August 14, but the document looked to be mostly boilerplate, and lawyers quickly stated that there was no prospect of the trial starting that soon.
Indeed, the majority of legal experts have debated whether a trial before the November 2024 presidential election is realistic. Trump has launched a campaign to reclaim the presidency and is far ahead of the field of Republican presidential hopefuls.
According to the government’s filing, defense attorneys for Trump and his personal aide, Walt Nauta, who is a co-defendant in the case, agree that the August trial date should be postponed but disagree with the prosecution’s proposed timeline.
Trump’s attorney declined to comment on the government’s request.
Trump pled not guilty last week to the unprecedented accusations, which included 31 felony counts of deliberate retention of national defense information and six counts of obstruction of justice.
Prosecutors told Cannon that the case isn’t complicated by conventional standards, stating that it “involves straightforward theories of liability, and does not present novel questions of fact or law.”
The government lawyers, however, stated that the legal procedures around the use of sensitive information in a criminal prosecution necessitate some time.
“The case does involve classified information and defense counsel will be required to obtain the necessary security clearances,” Assistant Special Counsel David Harbach and other prosecutors wrote.
Cannon had earlier directed defense counsel to begin the process of obtaining security clearances by the end of this week. However, Nauta still did not have a counsel formally defending him in the lawsuit as of Friday.
Prosecutor Jay Bratt, Smith’s attorney, stated that federal officials have “committed to significantly expediting” the security clearance procedure and should be able to provide interim clearances to the lawyers within 24 to 48 hours of receiving the necessary documentation.
However, Bratt stated that some confidential information in the case is so sensitive that the lawyers will want full security clearances, which will take 45 to 60 days to obtain.
Feds propose starting Trump classified documents trial in December https://t.co/qd0DoaPrg5
— #TuckFrump (@realTuckFrumper) June 24, 2023
“The case does involve classified information, and defense counsel will be required to obtain the necessary security clearances,” wrote Assistant Special Counsel David Harbach and others.
Cannon had already mandated that defense attorneys start the process of getting security clearances by the end of this week. However, as of Friday, Nauta still did not have a lawyer legally defending him in the complaint.
Smith’s attorney, Prosecutor Jay Bratt, indicated that federal officials have “committed to significantly expediting” the security clearance procedure and should be able to give interim clearances within 24 to 48 hours of obtaining the relevant evidence.
Bratt, on the other hand, indicated that some of the case’s secret information is so sensitive that the lawyers will want full security clearances, which will take 45 to 60 days to secure.
Prosecutors requested that Trump and Nauta file any applications to dismiss any or all of the accusations in the case within five weeks, by July 31. Given some of the difficulties highlighted by the first federal criminal case against a former president, that could be an aggressive timeline.
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