Trump-Appointed Judge Rejects Ex-President’s Request to Push Classified Docs Case Until After 2024 Election

AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack

In a legal blow to former President Donald Trump, Judge Aileen Cannon rejected his team’s request to move his May 2024 trial in his federal classified documents case until after the presidential election.

Cannon, who was appointed by Trump, issued an order on Friday that the defendant’s motion to “continue trial” was “denied without prejudice” but the request will be revisited at a scheduling conference on March 1, 2024. CNN’s Katelyn Polantz noted in her report that this was days before Trump is scheduled to appear in court in his other federal case related to his actions during the 2020 election.

In her ruling, Cannon noted:

[T]he quantity of discovery in this case remains exceedingly voluminous, even more so than initially thought. To be sure, the Special Counsel has taken various steps to produce discovery on a regular basis. But even with these efforts, discovery has increased sizably from initial estimates…

She also seemed to recognize that Trump’s trial schedule in 2024 — to say nothing of his presidential campaign — is going to be rather busy for his legal team:

Although the Special Counsel is correct that the trajectory of these matters potentially remains in flux, the schedules as they currently stand overlap substantially with the deadlines in this case, presenting additional challenges to ensuring Defendant Trump has adequate time to prepare for trial and to assist in his defense.

Earlier this week, it was reported by CNN that employees at Mar-A-Lago could be called as possible witnesses in the classified docs trial, including a “plumber, a maid, a chauffeur and a woodworker,” as well as Secret Service agents and intelligence agents.

Trump was indicted by Special Counsel Jack Smith on 31 counts of mishandling classified documents in violation of the Espionage Act. He has pleaded not guilty.