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Lawyers for Walt Nauta, the Mar-a-Lago valet charged along with Donald Trump in the classified documents investigation, have argued against the judge overseeing the trial's interpretation of local law while requesting a delay in proceedings.
In court filings filed on Monday, Nauta's legal team called for a rescheduling of the July 14 preliminary hearing to discuss the handling of the classified documents that will be the focus of the trial. One of Nauta's attorneys, Stanley Woodward, will not be able to attend as he will be working on a separate trial in Washington D.C. Newsweek has contacted Woodward for comment via email. Nauta has pleaded not guilty to allegations he helped obstruct the federal attempt to retrieve the classified documents.
In response, Special Counsel Jack Smith accused Nauta's legal team of attempting an "unnecessary" delay tactic. U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing the case, will decide on whether to delay the routine Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA) hearing. This will decide how to deal with the sensitive materials during the trial, and could signal how the judge who was appointed to the bench by Trump will oversee the rest of the proceedings.
Cannon has faced calls to recuse herself from the classified documents case over concerns about her impartiality to Trump.
In the filings, Woodward said that Cannon previously stated that Nauta's legal team "must be ready to adequately represent " their client "at any time," while citing state law.
In response, Woodward added that the ruling does not apply to him as he is based in Washington D.C., not Florida, where the proceedings are taking place.
"Nauta respects the Order of the Court and submits that it was not unreasonable for him to retain local counsel and thereafter request this Court accommodate the unavailability of his longtime counsel, Mr. Woodward insofar as Defense counsel would note that Local Rule 4 of the Rules Governing the Admission, Practice, Peer Review, and Discipline of Attorneys for the United States District Court of the Southern District of Florida, which pertains to the admission of out-of-state attorneys pro hac vice does not indicate that the sponsoring attorney be required to, 'be ready to adequately represent the defendant at any time,'" a footnote in the court filings read.
In a tweet discussing the filings, Lisa Rubin, an attorney and legal analyst for MSNBC, wrote that Woodward is "picking his first fight" with Cannon while arguing her previous order "finds no support in the local rules for the admission of out-of-district lawyers."
In his response to the request for a delay for the July 14 hearing, Smith questioned why Nauta's Florida-based attorney, Sasha Dadan, can't attend instead of Woodward. Nauta's legal team replied that Dadan has not yet fully prepared for the hearing as she was hired only the day before his twice-delayed arraignment on July 6.
Smith's office also criticized Woodward for not yet filling out a form to provide him interim clearance required to deal with the classified documents.
"Almost a month has passed since the grand jury returned its indictment. There is a strong public interest in the conference occurring as originally scheduled and the case proceeding as expeditiously as possible," Smith wrote.
Discussing the delay request, legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Joyce Alene said the decision from Cannon, who has already made a number of rulings that have benefited Trump in the classified documents case, will show how she will handle further proceedings involving the former president.
"The Judge's ruling will give us a sense of whether she's going to go straight up the middle or lean Trump," Alene tweeted. "No reason to delay this hearing, which is essential to kicking off classified discovery."
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