"Extending deadlines indefinitely is the same thing as giving Trump an indefinite trial delay"

 

Judge Aileen Cannon has granted Donald Trump a delay in the classified documents trial by pushing back a court deadline in the case.

On Monday, Judge Cannon temporarily stayed a May 9 deadline for Trump and his two co-defendants in the federal case to submit court filings. 

It relates to Section 5(a) of the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA), which would disclose what sensitive materials Trump intends to use at the trial.

The Context

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 40 federal charges concerning allegations he illegally retained classified materials after he left the White House in January 2021, and then obstructed the federal attempt to retrieve them.

The trial is currently scheduled to start on May 20. However, Judge Cannon did not immediately set a new date for Trump to file his CIPA-related documents, potentially increasing the likelihood the trial won't happen before the 2024 election in November.

If the presumptive GOP nominee wins the general election against his Democratic counterpart Joe Biden, the Republican could order the Department of Justice to drop the federal classified documents into him if the case has not yet been brought to trial.

Cannon submitted court filings on Monday "temporarily staying" the CIPA request regarding what classified materials the defendants intend to use in the trial and what expert witnesses Trump's legal team intends to call at the trial in Florida. 

Cannon did not offer any explanation as to why the May 9 CIPA deadline has been indefinitely postponed, only stating that an "order setting second set of pretrial deadlines/hearings to follow."

The judge, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, has frequently faced criticism for her rulings in the federal case which appear to have benefited the former president.

Cannon has yet to rule on a number of motions filed by Trump and his two co-defendants, aide Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago maintenance worker Carlos De Oliveira, to have the classified documents charges dismissed, which could also result in further delay to the start of the trial.

The postponement arrived after Special Counsel Jack Smith's office admitted to Cannon in court filings that some of the classified materials recovered from Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort may not be in the original sequence as when FBI agents retrieved them in August 2022.

Smith's office said this was "inconsistent" with what the government previously told the court when it said that the only changes were some classified documents had been removed and had placeholders put in them.

Smith's office suggested that the "size and shape of certain items in the boxes" possibly lead to them moving around, but it should not affect the case or the CIPA process.

"For example, the boxes contain items smaller than standard paper such as index cards, books, and stationary, which shift easily when the boxes are carried, especially because many of the boxes are not full," Smith's team wrote.

Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance wrote: "This case was set for trial on May 20, which obviously won't happen. It should have been ready to try by the end of last year.

"Extending the 5(a) deadlines indefinitely is the same thing as giving Trump an indefinite trial delay."

A former CIA agent who posts on X, formerly Twitter, under the Secrets and Laws pseudonym wrote: "DOJ moved for its CIPA Section 4 protective order on December 6, 2023.

"It's five months later, and there has been no progress on the classified aspects of this case other than Cannon ruling on that motion, which took 3 months. Inexcusable."

Once Trump has filed his CIPA documents, the former president's lawyers and Smith's office could embark on a lengthy back-and-forth about what sensitive materials can be used in the trial.

Cannon is still to finalize when the classified documents trial can begin, as well as a new deadline for the CIPA filings.

Ewan Palmer, Newsweek