Trump pushes another delay after expert witness dumps him in classified documents case

Lawyers for former President Donald Trump are seeking a delay in his classified documents case, saying it needs time to find potential experts because one who was under consideration notified the defense over the weekend they could not work on the case.

In court documents obtained Monday night by Politico, the defense seeks an extension of the deadline for expert disclosures until July 8. The current deadline is June 10, as previously set by the court.

"Defense counsel have been diligently working to identify and engage potential expert witnesses, but the process is not complete," Trump's team said, noting the recent six-week hush money trial in New York City "made the timing of the expert-notice deadline challenging."

Additionally, Trump's team said it was considering a potential expert who notified them over the weekend that they could not work on this case.

"We are in discussions with other potential experts, but given the need to confirm that witnesses are conflict-free and able to complete the engagement process, we have been unable to finalize our expert engagements by today’s deadline," the court filing said.

The defense said it has been reviewing recent productions of classified and unclassified evidence from the Special Counsel's office, and it plans to disclose to prosecutors Monday night the topics of expert testimony it intends to present at trial.

The Special Counsel's Office opposed the extension, noting the defense already received two previous extensions and has had notice of the government's experts for nearly five months.

"The Government assumes that this is the only expert Trump intends to notice, because otherwise there is no reason he could not designate the other experts now," Christopher M. Kise wrote in response.