Former US President Donald Trump and an aide, Walt Nauta, have appealed a federal court in Florida to adjourn the criminal trial in the Mar-a-Lago documents case and cancel the scheduled date in a motion by their attorneys.
In order to give both sides more time to prepare, prosecutors had previously petitioned District Judge Aileen Cannon for a postponement from the scheduled date of Aug. 14 to Dec. 11. However, Trump’s attorneys said in the late-Monday filing that a December trial date would deprive them adequate time to prepare and that the government’s suggested timeline is “unrealistic.”
The attorneys continued by stating that a continuance was both required and appropriate. They said, “The court should therefore withdraw the current order setting trial and postpone any consideration of a new trial date.”
The Department of Justice has not commented on the recent filing which pertains to both Mr. Trump and his adviser Walt Nauta, who has also entered a not guilty plea in the case.
Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination for president in 2024, entered a not guilty plea to 37 counts on June 13 in federal court in Miami to allegations that he had illegally retained sensitive national security materials after leaving office in 2021 and that he had lied to authorities who tried to retrieve them.
In the document, Trump’s attorneys argued that a December trial was unworkable given the logistical requirements of his presidential campaign, the possible volume of material they could need to analyze, and the other legal matters he is dealing with.
The request will be decided upon by Judge Aileen Cannon, who is presiding over the opening phases of the case.
U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith had expected that Trump’s side would object to the proposed prosecution timeline when he asked to postpone the trial by approximately four months on June 23.
Trump’s aide, Nauta, entered a not guilty plea last week in a federal courtroom in Miami to claims that he had assisted Trump in concealing top-secret papers that were removed when he departed the White House.