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Department of Justice (DOJ) Special Counsel Jack Smith's latest court filing raised eyebrows from some legal experts.
Smith is leading the DOJ's legal cases against former President Trump, who is set to face two federal trials next year. One trial focuses on his alleged election interference attempts after the 2020 presidential election, and the other is centered around classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Trump maintains his innocence in each case, accusing federal prosecutors of targeting him for political purposes.
In the classified documents case, the DOJ charged Trump with 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information and one count each of conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and false statements and representations. Trump has pleaded not guilty to each charge, as he has in all of his criminal cases.
Trump's legal team has pushed for the federal trials to be delayed, and last month Aileen Cannon, the Trump-appointed federal judge overseeing the classified documents trial, agreed to revisit the trial schedule following a conference on March 1, 2024, when more deadlines will be set. That means some deadlines of the pretrial calendar have been paused until after the meeting.
Smith on Tuesday made a court filing raising concerns about the timeline. He wrote that beginning the process after the March 1 meeting "will likely not provide the Court with sufficient time prior to trial" to conduct the jury selection process.
Similar cases have seen the process last for 10 weeks along with time to mail questionnaires to potential jurors, so a questionnaire would need to be approved by March 11 for the trial to start on time, Smith wrote.
Because of this, Smith urged Cannon to set a February 2 deadline for both the government and Trump's attorneys to submit proposed jury questionnaires.
Former federal prosecutor Gene Rossi told Newsweek the move risks "poking the bear," warning it may not be the "wisest" move by Smith.
"Federal judges guard and cherish their trial calendars probably more than their own family members," Rossi told Newsweek by phone. "The calendar of a judge is extremely precious to any jurist. The filing by Jack Smith seems to suggest that Judge Cannon cover her bets. In other words, have a status conference, but at the same time, send out the questionnaires. I am not sure that was the wisest filing by the Department of Justice."
Rossi said these sorts of requests are not uncommon from attorneys but may not have been "the smartest chess move he could have made" given the political ramifications of the trial and Cannon's stance on the timeline.
Cannon, he said, does not seem inclined to move the trial along with the "upmost alacrity" and may not agree that the court can send out the questionnaire and have the scheduling conference.
A DOJ spokesperson declined comment when reached by Newsweek.
Conservative lawyer Julie Kelly also questioned Smith's move in a post to X, formerly Twitter.
"Just a reminder that as of right now, pretrial calendars for Trump's federal trials are on hold," Kelly said. "But Jack Smith continues to try to advance proceedings—here he asks Judge Cannon in classified docs case to move forward with jury questionnaire. Can't wait to see her response."
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About the writer
Andrew Stanton is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in Maine. His role is reporting on U.S. politics and social issues. ... Read more