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The judge overseeing Donald Trump's classified documents case has given the former president's legal team a deadline as the courts begin the meticulous process of organizing the sensitive evidence which will be the focus of the trial.
On Thursday, Judge Aileen Cannon told the attorneys for Trump and Walt Nauta, who recently pleaded not guilty to allegations he helped obstruct the federal attempt to retrieve the classified documents, that they have until July 13 to complete all "outstanding applicant tasks required to obtain the requisite security clearances" in the case.
The deadline was set as the courts need to follow a strict set of rules under what is known as the Classified Information Procedures Act [CIPA] in order to decide how to protect the sensitive materials involved in the legal proceedings, as well as decide how they can be discussed or disclosed in a trial setting.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 37 federal charges in connection to the classified documents case, including 31 counts of willful retention of classified documents under the Espionage Act.
The former president is accused of trying to prevent the federal government from retrieving the top secret materials he had retained at his Mar-a-Lago resort, including allegedly using Nauta to move boxes of documents prior to the FBI visiting his Florida home to recover the papers.
As the case involves classified documents, which cannot be viewed by people without the necessary clearances, the CIPA process can mean any trial could be heavily delayed as prosecutors need to find a way to use the complex materials as evidence without disclosing the information they contain.
Cannon had originally set the trial to begin on August 14, but federal prosecutors argued that the former president's legal team would need more time in order to obtain security clearance to view the classified documents. The DoJ has requested that the trial be delayed until December.
Stephanie Siegmann, a former chief of the national security unit of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston, said that the discovery process, which sees the defense hand over information and evidence that will be used against them in trial, could take up to a year in this case as classified documents form a key part.
"In every case that I had involving classified information, we never had a speedy trial," Siegmann told Reuters.
Attorney Kel McClanahan said that it could be difficult to determine how long the evidence gathering process in Trump's case could take as CIPA has "so many different steps, that each one just by virtue of the fact it's a step takes an uncertain amount of time."
There is also the possibility that the process could be further delayed if Trump's legal team decides to contest and appeal on any number of rulings and decisions, a tactic which the former president and his attorneys are known to do with legal proceedings they are involved in.
Trump, who is the frontrunner to clinch the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, will be hoping for as many delays in the classified documents case, especially if it could be pushed back beyond the next election.
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, suggested that Cannon may rule to delay the trial until after the November 2024 election, especially as Trump is already set to begin a trial in New York in March over falsifying business records allegations.
"Judges can manage their courtroom calendars as they see fit, so Judge Cannon will have almost unfettered discretion in setting her trial schedule and no appellate court would even consider overruling her on that," Rahmani previously told Newsweek.
Trump's legal team has been contacted for comment via email.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida ... Read more