Special Counsel Jack Smith chastised former President Donald Trump for his request to postpone the trial in his classified documents case until after the 2024 election, arguing that Trump has no grounds to delay a trial that’s already more than half a year away.
“The defendants provide no credible justification to postpone a trial that is still seven months away,” Smith wrote in a point-by-point motion filed on Monday breaking down Trump’s request. “They are fully informed about the charges and the theory of the Government’s case from a highly detailed superseding indictment and comprehensive, organized unclassified and classified discovery.”
Trump filed a motion last week requesting the court move the trial, currently scheduled for May, to November, claiming Smith’s separate cases against Trump and their respective trial dates “currently require President Trump and his lawyers to be in two places at once.” Judge Aileen Cannon then paused all litigation, including the docket schedule, while she considered Trump’s request. Trump was charged in June for hoarding scores of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida after he left office, despite repeated attempts by the federal government to reclaim them.
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Trump also claimed that Smith hadn’t given Trump and his lawyers all discovery materials and the necessary secured locations and security clearances to view classified material, giving the former president less time to prepare an adequate defense.
Smith doesn’t buy it, saying Trump had access to most materials within days of his arraignment. “The Government has provided the defendants extensive, prompt, and well-organized unclassified discovery, yielding an exhaustive roadmap of proof of the detailed allegations in the superseding indictment,” he wrote. “The vast majority of classified discovery is also available to the defendants.”
Trump’s claims about the lack of secure facilities and security clearances are “inaccurate or incomplete; collectively they are misleading,” Smith wrote. He added that Trump’s attorney Chris Kise has had an interim clearance since late July, allowing him to view a large portion of the classified discovery material, and that the court already factored Kise’s obligations in a separate Trump case when setting the May date. Smith also said that the special counsel’s office had no authority to determine when and where secure locations to view the classified documents would be set up, but he said they should be available soon.
“Their unfounded claims of Government noncompliance with discovery obligations do not support their request,” Smith wrote. “Their claims about their inability to review classified information are distorted and exaggerated, and, in any event, the Government expects that the CISO will resolve any remaining issues this week. There is no reason to adjourn the trial date. The defendants’ motion should be denied.”
