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The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s indictment for allegedly mishandling classified documents said Friday she would give the former president more time to review evidence before the May trial date, but also signaled she could decide next year if the trial itself should be pushed back.
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In a nine-page order, U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon said she would revisit Trump’s request to delay the trial in South Florida at a scheduling conference in March.
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Cannon held a hearing earlier this month to decide whether the timetable she set should remain or whether she should push it back.
Prosecutors have argued to stick to the schedule she set earlier this year, which includes a trial in May 2024. Lawyers for the former president insisted they needed more time to prepare and said it wasn’t plausible to expect them to prepare for this trial and a separate federal trial against Trump in D.C., which is set to begin in March.
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In a written statement Friday, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said his legal team looks forward to revisiting the scheduling issue next year.
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“It is clearly in the best interest of Justice for President Trump to have adequate time to prepare and file motions, as he works to defeat these hoaxes and marches back to the White House,” said Cheung.
Cannon wrote in her order Friday that she expects a significant amount of legal fighting to come over what she called the “unusually high volume” of evidence, particularly classified evidence.
“Without expressing any view on the merits of those anticipated motions, it is evident that the parties are at odds on significant issues related to the scope of discoverable information in this case, and that such disagreements will require substantial judicial intervention,” Cannon wrote.
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Trump is charged in Florida with dozens of counts of mishandling classified information and plotting with two aides to obstruct government efforts to recover hundreds of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach home and private club, after his presidency ended. He has pleaded not guilty.
The judge also noted the complexity of the Florida case is only further complicated by the federal charges of obstructing the 2020 election — the case that is currently scheduled to go to trial in March in Washington. Trump has also pleaded not guilty in that case.
Cannon wrote that the demands on Trump’s legal team to prepare for one trial while conducting another could also ultimately affect the Florida trial schedule.
More on the Trump classified documents indictment The latest: Donald Trump faces a new federal indictment in which he is charged with seeking to prevent security footage from being reviewed. Trump pleaded not guilty in June to federal charges that he broke the law by keeping and hiding top secret documents at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida. The judge set a trial date for next May.
The charges: Trump faces 40 separate charges in the documents case. Read the full text of the superseding indictment against Trump and our top takeaways from the indictment.
The case: The criminal investigation looks into whether Trump took government secrets with him after he left the White House and obstructed a subsequent investigation. Here’s what to know about the classified documents case.
Can Trump still run for president? While it has never been attempted by a candidate from a major party before, Trump is allowed to run for president while under indictment — or even if he is convicted of a crime. Here’s how Trump’s indictment could impact the 2024 election.
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