Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team on Thursday urged U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to move ahead with preparations for the impending trial against former President Donald Trump in May.
Trump’s team argued on Wednesday that preparations for the impending trial in Fort Pierce, Florida, including the formalizing of a jury questionnaire, were “premature.”
Trump stands accused of 40 felonies related to the retention of classified documents he allegedly stored at Mar-a-Lago in the months after he left office.
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Prosecutor Jay Bratt shot back on Thursday, writing that Trump’s filing was “long on rhetoric and baseless accusations that do not merit a response.”
He continued: “More to the point, defendants’ breathless castigation of the Government for suggesting the parties engage on jury questionnaires before resolution of pretrial motions ignores that the same was true in cases the Government cited in its motion.”
Bratt urged the court to disregard the Trump team’s objections that could stand to delay proceedings even further.
“It is economical and a good use of time to begin the process of drafting a questionnaire now,” Bratt wrote.
