Donald Trump Sets Up Jack Smith and Fani Willis on Collision Course

Donald Trump has put forward a proposed start date for his classified documents trial in potentially the same month proceedings in his Georgia election interference case could begin.

In court filings on Thursday, the former president's legal team called on Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing the classified documents case headed by Special Counsel Jack Smith, to delay the federal trial until 2025 due to the Republican presidential hopeful's campaign schedule.

Despite calling for a delay until next year, Trump's lawyers still put forward a suggested start date for the trial as required by a court order, and opted for August 12.

August is also the month in which Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has suggested the former president begin his trial in the sprawling election interference case in Georgia. The timing of the racketeering trial, where 15 other defendants are scheduled to appear in front of a jury, could yet be affected if a judge rules that Willis should be disqualified from the case for failing to disclose having a relationship with a prosecutor she hired to work on the Trump case.

Trump has long faced accusations that he is hoping his classified documents trial, where he faces 40 charges over claims he retained sensitive materials after he left office and then obstructed the federal attempt to retrieve them, will be delayed until after the 2024 election at least.

If Trump beats President Joe Biden in November, the Republican could order the Department of Justice to drop the federal classified documents case into him once he enters office.

Writing to Cannon, Trump's lawyers submitted August 12 as a possible trial date start while also arguing it cannot take place this year at all due to the former president's campaign commitments.

"As the leading candidate in the 2024 election, President Trump strongly asserts that a fair trial cannot be conducted this year in a manner consistent with the Constitution, which affords President Trump a Sixth Amendment right to be present and to participate in these proceedings as well as a First Amendment right that he shares with the American people to engage in campaign speech," Trump's legal team wrote.

Smith's office asked Cannon to schedule the classified documents trial for July 8, all but guaranteeing a jury decision would arrive before November's race.

Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump and has been criticized for multiple judgments which have favored the former president in the classified documents case, will appear at a scheduling conference on Friday, March 1.

At the hearing, Cannon could confirm or delay the start of the classified documents trial, which is currently scheduled for May 20.

Trump's legal team has been contacted for comment via email.

Also on Friday, Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee will hear final arguments on whether Willis should be removed as the lead prosecutor in the Georgia 2020 election interference case against Trump.

Willis is accused of having an improper relationship with a special prosecutor she hired for the case, Nathan Wade, and of misusing taxpayer funds to hire someone she was in a relationship with and go on vacation together while working on the investigation.

Both Willis and Wade maintain that their relationship only started around spring of 2022 after they began working together on the election interference investigation, and that the relationship does not amount to a conflict of interest which affects the criminal case. Wade was hired as a special prosecutor in 2021.

If McAfee rules that Willis and her office should be disqualified from leading the Trump case, a nonpartisan council supporting prosecuting attorneys would be tasked with finding a new prosecutor to take over.

The new attorney would then need to decide on whether to proceed with all the charges filed against Trump and the other defendants, which includes former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and ex-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, or drop the case altogether.