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Donald Trump's legal team has until Monday to explain why they need a vast array of classified documents that could delay his election fraud case by years.
Last week, chief prosecutor Jack Smith filed a submission to strike out Trump's request for 57 groups of documents, many of them highly classified, on everything from Justice Department (DOJ) correspondence with Hunter Biden to Trump's White House scheduling diary.
Trump's team also applied for documents on Russian and Iranian meddling in the 2020 election; alleged Chinese hacking of election computers; full details of all undercover agents deployed at the January 6 riot and a vast array of correspondence relating to voting in seven states during the 2020 election.
Trump's lawyers were due to file their explanation for the document request by Friday. Judge Tanya Chutkan extended the deadline to Monday, November 27, and refused their request for a longer delay.
The former president was indicted on four counts in Washington D.C. for allegedly working to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. The Republican has pleaded not guilty to the charges that include conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.
A smaller disclosure in Trump's classified documents hoarding case in Florida has already run to over a million pages and, if granted, the disclosure in the election case may run to several million pages.
The request could cause a major delay in Trump's election tampering trial as it has in his trial in Florida, where attorneys have to view the disclosed documents in special, secure rooms and use ultra-secure laptops.
Under the federal Classified Information Procedures Act, all of the security protocols in Florida will have to be replicated in Washington D.C. if Trump is granted his disclosure request.
Newsweek sought email comment on Monday from Trump's attorney.
In a disclosure request filed to Chutkan last Wednesday, Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and John Lauro, said they want "all documents regarding informants, cooperators, undercover agents, representatives, or anyone acting in a similar capacity" who were "at or within 5 miles of the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021."
Their request also includes "all documents relating to investigations relating to fraud, interference (including but not limited to foreign interference), or irregularities during the 2020 election, "including "the election security and integrity risks arising from the cyberattack and data breach relating to SolarWinds, Microsoft, and VMWare in or about 2020" and details of "Dominion Voting Systems and its voting-system products."
The former president claimed after the election that Dominion voting machines were rigged and the company has already successfully sued Trump supporter, businessman Mike Lindell, for falsely claiming that it was part of a plot to fix the election for President Joe Biden.
The Trump legal team also wants "all documents relating to President Trump's daily schedule for the period from October 1, 2020, through January 20, 2021, including scheduling materials, itineraries, and summaries of President Trump's activities, including all 'daily diary' documents."
They are also seeking "all documents relating to communications or coordination by the Special Counsel's office and DOJ with any of the Biden Administration, the Biden Campaign, Hunter Biden, the Biden family, the Biden White House, or any person representing Joe Biden."
On the election itself, they are seeking "all audits of election results, vote tabulation, vote submission, or related election activities performed by state governments named in the Indictment."
The indictment alleges that Trump tried to illegally tamper with the election results in Nevada, Michigan, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona and Wisconsin—all of which would have to supply huge reams of documents under the Trump disclosure request.
Trump's lawyers are also seeking all documents relating to the "broad Russian and Iranian campaigns" to undermine public confidence in the U.S. election, as well as documents relating to claims that Venezuela, Cuba, and China "owned, directed, or controlled election infrastructure used in the 2020 federal elections."
In Trump's other federal case, in which he is accused of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Judge Aileen Cannon has said that she will have to set a new pretrial schedule because of the large number of documents being sought by the Trump defense team.
"I'm just having a hard time seeing how realistically this work can be accomplished in this compressed period of time, given the realities that we're facing," Cannon told lawyers at a hearing on November 1.
Jay Bratt, a Justice Department national security prosecutor, objected, and said Trump's continuing requests for postponements are part of an overarching strategy of delay in many of his legal proceedings. "It's not surprising," Bratt told Cannon.
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About the writer
Sean O'Driscoll is a Newsweek Senior Crime and Courts Reporter based in Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. law. ... Read more