A Florida judge has indefinitely postponed former President Donald Trump's classified documents trial, according to CNN.
Citing issues with classified evidence and the case's timeline Tuesday, Judge Aileen Cannon canceled Trump's trial date later this month, without providing a new date.
The date had been widely expected to move as the result of a number of pretrial conflicts between special counsel Jack Smith and Trump's attorneys. Smith had urged Judge Cannon to reschedule the trial to begin on July 8, but an order from the judge on Tuesday afternoon suggested that she is unlikely to even decide on a new trial date before late July, according to Politico.
"The Court...determines that finalization of a trial date at this juncture – before resolution of the myriad and interconnected pre-trial and CIPA issues remaining and forthcoming – would be imprudent and inconsistent with the Court's duty to fully and fairly consider the various pending pre-trial motions before the Court, critical CIPA issues, and additional pretrial and trial preparations necessary to present this case to a jury," Cannon wrote Tuesday, according to NBC News.
"The Court therefore vacates the current May 20, 2024, trial date (and associated calendar call), to be reset by separate order following resolution of the matters before the Court, consistent with Defendants' right to due process and the public's interest in the fair and efficient administration of justice," she continued.
Trump, 77, is facing 37 charges, including willful retention of national defense information and false statements and representations, among others. He pleaded not guilty in connection to his alleged removal of classified documents from the White House at the end of his term to Mar-a-Lago. He kept them in his personal office at Mar-a-Lago, a storage area near a pool accessible to all members of the club and their guests, stacked up in a bathroom and on a stage in an event room, according to federal investigators.
