Special counsel Jack Smith criticized former United States President Donald Trump's request to delay the classified documents trial until after the 2024 presidential elections as "borderline frivolous."
Prosecutors said in an 11-page filing signed by assistant special counsel David Harbach that federal law and the Constitution require the trial to be started as soon as possible. It argued that it is not with an "open-ended" date built around the Republican businessman's political calendar.
Donald Trump Requests Delay of Classified Documents Trial
Harbach wrote that there was no basis in law or fact for them to proceed in such an indeterminate and open-ended fashion. He added that the defendants had not provided any reasoning for such a request.
Smith's filing is his latest bid to prevail on U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon to adopt his proposed schedule for the trial. As per Politico, it would result in a trial opening scheduled for mid-December, which is one year earlier than what Trump has previously called for.
The special counsel's team rejected the notion that issues raised by the former president are particularly complex or unprecedented. The former cited cases related to former President Richard Nixon and cases that have upheld the power of special counsels to conduct federal investigations.
On the other hand, Trump's contention that the Presidential Records Act provides him a defense in the case was inaccurate. Harbach noted that while the defendants were free to make any arguments for dismissal of the indictment, they should not be allowed to provide a baseless legal argument and call it novel.
The prosecutors tiptoe around the issue of the former president's re-election bid, including its complications that it is expected to result in any trial in the coming year.
Smith's side has accused the defendants of providing a "misleading" picture of the amount of evidence already handed over by prosecutors to the defendants in the case. According to CNN, the former president and his co-defendant, Walt Nauta, his former aide, cited that they needed more time to review the evidence as a reason for the delay of the trial.
No Legal Basis
Additionally, prosecutors railed against Trump's and Nauta's lawyers' suggestion that it would be impossible to seat a fair jury for the case before the 2024 presidential election. They argued that this is because the Republican businessman would be running to return to the White House.
The special counsel's filing responded by saying that the jury system relies on the Court's authority to craft a thorough and effective selection process and potential jurors' ability and willingness to decide on the cases based primarily on the evidence that they are shown along with guidance from legal instructions from the Court.
The situation comes after Trump was indicted last month on several criminal charges that accused the former president of mishandling more than 100 classified documents discovered last year at his Florida Mar-a-Lago estate.
The former president is now facing 37 counts related to allegations that he willfully retained national defense information, conspired to obstruct justice, and made false statements, said NBC News.
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