Trump's codefendant is helping him throw a wrench in Jack Smith's plans: analysis

Although special counsel Jack Smith hopes to begin former President Donald Trump's trial for illegal retention of national defense information started by the end of the year, moves being made by Trump codefendant Walt Nauta are making that less likely.

MSNBC legal analyst Jordan Rubin writes in a new column that Nauta's arraignment on criminal charges keeps getting put off, which he said could throw a wrench in Smith's plan to get the trial wrapped up well ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

"Last week, when Nauta was set to be arraigned after the initial delay, he still didn't have proper counsel, and the arraignment was pushed again, to Thursday," Rubin notes. "Thursday was supposed to be the date by which Trump had to respond to Smith’s December trial date request. But with Nauta’s latest delay, Cannon on Friday pushed the response deadline to July 10."

Rubin adds that Trump has long used delays as a legal tactic, and he says that Judge Aileen Cannon will need to show that she's wise to this tactic if she is to remain on the case.

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"As Nauta is set to finally be arraigned this week, how she responds to any further delay attempts will be telling — as will her reaction to the defendants' response to Smith’s December trial date request, once they finally weigh in," he concludes. "How far past December the defendants seek to push the trial — and what Cannon allows — could shed light on how much Nauta’s pre-arraignment delay helped the defense."