Jack Smith Urges Judge Aileen Cannon Not to Further Delay Donald Trump’s Trial

Jack Smith is pleading with the court in the case involving Donald Trump to not postpone the trial date because of new accusations brought last week. The trial against Trump is scheduled to begin on May 20 of next year, but his former attorney, Thomas Parlatore, claimed on Sunday that the indictment of a second codefendant and additional allegations issued last week might push the trial out until after the election.

According to a report from Bloomberg on Monday, Smith filed a notice with Judge Aileen Cannon stating that the additional files shouldn't "disturb" the timeline and that his team was taking efforts to "ensure that it does not do so." The fresh allegations state that Trump hindered the FBI's investigation by trying to hide surveillance video; Smith pledged to "promptly" hand over data related to these allegations. Carlos De Oliveira, the Mar-a-Lago property manager, was also accused of wrongdoing.

The only chance Donald Trump has of escaping the many allegations brought against him in court is, according to his aides, to become president again in 2024. The New York Times reported that "some of the former president's advisers have been blunt in private conversations that he is looking to winning the election as a solution to his legal problems" after facing federal charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith and state charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

While Trump couldn't technically end Bragg's lawsuit during his second term in office, he could at least freeze it. Meanwhile, he might give a pardon to himself and order his attorney general to close down Smtih's office to end the investigation quickly. This is why, according to the Times, Trump's attorneys are attempting to postpone the trial of the former president until after the 2024 election.

Mr. Trump's legal team argued before Judge Cannon that their motion was necessary to protect democracy and urged careful consideration. Lawyers Chris M. Kise and Todd Blanche for Trump and Stanley Woodward Jr. and Sasha Dadan for Nauta penned the legal briefs: "This extraordinary case presents a serious challenge to both the facts and perception of our American democracy. The court now presides over a prosecution advanced by the administration of a sitting president against his chief political rival, himself a leading candidate for the presidency of the United States."

They further added, "Therefore, a measured consideration and timeline that allows for a careful and complete review of the procedures that led to this indictment and the unprecedented legal issues presented herein best serves the interests of the defendants and the public." The attorneys also pointed to the novel intersection of law and politics in the case, arguing that the fact that Mr. Trump is a presidential contender had to be taken into account when setting a trial date.

It's possible that both Smith and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will file charges against Trump related to his efforts to illegally remain in power after he loses the 2020 election to Vice President Joe Biden, so even if Judge Aileen Cannon agrees to postpone Trump's trial, he's not out of the woods legally, as reported by Raw Story.

References:

https://www.rawstory.com/carlos-de-oliveira-2662657116/

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/trump-s-new-charges-shouldn-t-delay-classified-documents-trial-doj-argues-1.1953002

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/11/us/politics/trump-documents-trial-postponement.html