(GoRealNewsNow.com) – Former President Donald Trump has requested a delay for his court case, involving allegations of mishandling secret documents, until after the 2024 Presidential election. This request aims to avoid the potential influence of political bias on the jury and delay the trial in a way that Trump hopes would never take place at all.
In a court filing late on Monday night, Trump’s legal representatives argued that holding a trial during a Presidential election cycle could make selecting an impartial jury difficult. This, in turn, could affect both the fairness of the trial and the election’s outcome.
“Any trial of this action during the pendency of a Presidential election will impact both the outcome of that election and, importantly, the ability of the Defendants to obtain a fair trial,” wrote Christopher Kise and Todd Blanche, Trump’s lawyers.
U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon, overseeing the case, is also considering a request from Special Counsel Jack Smith for the trial to start in December 2023.
In mid-June, Trump, in a Miami federal court, pled not guilty to all 37 felony charges related to the alleged mishandling of classified documents. Among the charges are retention of national defense information, obstruction of justice, and making false statements.
The federal case claims Trump knowingly possessed secret and classified documents that had not been made public. It’s alleged that Trump had many boxes of such papers at his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago. These boxes reportedly contained sensitive information about U.S. and foreign defense capabilities, nuclear programs, and potential vulnerabilities.
In late June, Judge Cannon set a tentative date for the trial to begin on August 14, 2023, and asked all parties to submit their pre-trial motions by July 24.
Last week, Trump’s aide, Will Nauta – a co-defendant in the case – also pled not guilty to several counts of mishandling classified materials and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
On Wednesday, federal judge Bruce Reinhart revealed sections of an FBI affidavit from 2022 requesting a search warrant for Mar-a-Lago. Video footage reportedly showed Nauta moving boxes from a storage room just before prosecutors came to search the property.
After learning about Nauta’s indictment in early June, Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, and wrote, “They are trying to destroy his life, like the lives of so many others, hoping that he will say bad things about ‘Trump.’ He is strong, brave, and a Great Patriot. The FBI and DOJ are CORRUPT!”
