U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon appears set on granting a delay in former President Donald Trump’s case alleging he mishandled classified documents in his possession at Mar-a-Lago. Such a ruling will push the start date for the trial past its previous date of May 20th, 2024 and would represent a sizable victory for the former president’s legal team.
OANN correspondent Daniel Baldwin reported on the delay, which is expected to be official any moment now, Friday morning.
Judge Aileen Cannon appears set to delay Trump's classified document schedule.
We'll know more details soon, but there is a very real chance the trial date of May 20, 2024 is postponed which would be a massive win for the Trump legal team. pic.twitter.com/OVMCQPnR6D
— Daniel Baldwin (@baldwin_daniel_) November 3, 2023
Julie Kelly, a conservative reporter following the ruling in court, posted an explanation of why Biden Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith only has himself to blame for the looming delay.
Among the reasons cited by Kelly include the fact that Smith brought two sprawling federal cases against President Trump within two months of one another. Shortly after charging Trump in the Mar-a-Lago case, Smith then submitted a superseding indictment with additional charges and laying out 1.3 million documents of evidence and thousands of hours of video surveillance from the residence. Judge Cannon has previously ruled that Smith must give adequate access to the evidence to President Trump’s attorneys.
I'll have a column explaining it all after order is filed.
You will see much caterwauling by corporate media types and usual suspects like Weissmann and McQuade how Cannon is doing Trump's bidding.
But the blame lies SOLELY at the feet of DOJ. Jack Smith brought 2 unprecedented…
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) November 3, 2023
I'll have a column explaining it all after order is filed.
You will see much caterwauling by corporate media types and usual suspects like Weissmann and McQuade how Cannon is doing Trump's bidding.
But the blame lies SOLELY at the feet of DOJ. Jack Smith brought 2 unprecedented…
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) November 3, 2023
Earlier this week, prosecutors argued in court that Trump is attempting to push the trial past the November 2024 election which theoretically could see him dismiss both federal cases against him once seated again in the White House. However, a number of ethically questionable maneuvers by Smith and his team have only sought to bolster the defense team’s argument that President Trump is not receiving a fair trial.
In addition to claiming that large portions of the evidence cannot be shared with the defense on the grounds of national security, Smith attempted to lock the documents and footage in a location in Washington, D.C., more than 1,000 miles away from Mar-a-Lago and the U.S. Southern District of Florida where the case is being tried. Other charges related to President Trump making false statements will likely fold given that Trump was not interviewed by a federal agent in the wake of an FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago to retrieve the classified documents.
Perhaps the weakest defense offered by Smith involves the use of an emoji contained in an email between individuals at Mar-a-Lago that talks about the security footage that was partially destroyed before the raid. Attorneys for President Trump have pledged to subpoena FBI agents who raided the compound and ordered staff to shut off cameras during the search.