Trump lawyers use hurricane in request to delay Jack Smith response

Donald Trump's lawyers have asked for an extension of their filing deadlines to respond to special counsel Jack Smith's latest motion due to a hurricane in Florida.

The former president's attorneys argued that they were displaced and disrupted when Hurricane Milton made landfall earlier this month near Sarasota, so they asked the court to extend their deadlines to respond to the special counsel's 165-page immunity motion until December.

"Needless to say, questions of Presidential immunity, and immunity-related discovery, are complex and require substantial resources to consider and brief, as the Special Counsel’s own enormous submission demonstrates," defense attorneys wrote.

"Despite difficulties, defense counsel have made multiple filings this month in good faith, including a lengthy proposed motion to dismiss concerning a complex and evolving area of the law, Doc. 270, all while continuing to draft the Response and Motion to Compel as quickly as able."

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"The requested extensions will ensure counsel have sufficient and reasonable time to finish this important work, while not causing any significant delay to the overall progress of this case," they added.

Trump's attorneys asked for a Nov. 7 deadline for their response to be extended until Dec. 5 and a Nov. 21 deadline for another filing to be reset to Dec. 19.

The former president's trial for election subversion in the District of Columbia has been delayed by his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which granted him broad presidential immunity in a July ruling. The special counsel filed an amended indictment that removed some charges that could be considered official acts that would be covered by the immunity.