Former President Donald Trump’s defense team asked the judge overseeing the classified documents case in Florida to postpone the trial, according to a filing late Monday night, saying there is “no reason for any expedited trial.”
“Proceeding to trial during the pendency of a Presidential election cycle wherein opposing candidates are effectively (if not literally) directly adverse to one another in this action will create extraordinary challenges in the jury selection process and limit the Defendants’ ability to secure a fair and impartial adjudication,” the former president’s lawyers wrote in the filing.
The Justice Department has asked for a mid-December trial date.
“This extraordinary case presents a serious challenge to both the fact and perception of our American democracy,” Trump’s defense team wrote in the filing. “The Court now presides over a prosecution advanced by the administration of a sitting President against his chief political rival, himself a leading candidate for the Presidency of the United States.”
Trump’s defense team said the court should “withdraw the current order setting trial” and “postpone” consideration of a new trial date.
In a separate filing earlier Monday, Trump’s defense team and the special counsel’s office said July 18 would be an agreeable date for the first appearance before Judge Aileen Cannon on classified information procedures.
While Trump entered his not-guilty plea in the case on June 13, his aide and co-defendant Walt Nauta were only able to enter his not-guilty plea last week due in part to delays in retaining a Florida counsel.