Trump facing critical deadline in Judge Cannon's courtroom with key lawyers unavailable

With no extension order filed in the docket by Florida Judge Aileen Cannon in the Donald Trump obstruction of justice trial, lawyers for the embattled ex-president are under the gun to disclose expert witnesses and documents with national security implications by May 15.

Complicating matters, reports former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance on her "Civil Discourse" Substack platform, is that two of Trump's primary lawyers are otherwise occupied.

As Vance notes, Trump and his co-defendants face the deadline to "file their disclosures of any expert witnesses they plan to use as well as notices under Section 5(a) of the Classified Information and Procedures Act (CIPA) of any classified discovery materials they intend to use at trial."

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The timing of the filings is important because disclosure of the information must be handed over in order for the government review "to obtain rulings from the court and appeal if necessary to avoid a 'graymail' situation where defendants force the government to dismiss charges against them to avoid disclosure of classified information that would damage national security."

As such, Vance suggested there will be a "hotbed of activity" within Trump's legal team that finds itself shorthanded because key Trump lawyer Chris Kise filed a “Notice of Unavailability” last week stating that he won't be involved until May 14.

Add to that, Trump's primary lawyer in the case, Todd Blanche, is also tied up overseeing the Manhattan hush-money trial where he is forced to sit in court four days a week.

According to Vance, "It’s not clear how Kise’s unavailability applies to defendants who are represented separately."

You can read more here.