Special Counsel Jack Smith pushed back Wednesday on an attempt by former President Donald Trump to secure a months-long delay to his classified documents case.
In a motion filed late in the day, the prosecutor said Trump’s request, “threatens to upend the entire schedule…and that amounts to a motion to continue the May 20, 2024 trial.”
Smith was responding to Trump’s legal team claiming that deadlines for pre-trial hearings should be extended so that they have time to deal with legal matters that had arisen, including an application for a protective order relating to Trump’s comments regarding witnesses and jurors.
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Trump is accused of illegally storing classified documents in his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago.
Smith said that, while he was amenable to a short delay, Trump was asking for too long.
“Instead, defendants argue for a schedule that would delay proceedings by over three months," the motion stated.
Smith said that Trump’s arguments, “overstate the complexity of anticipated pre-trial discovery litigation, and are meritless in any event.”
He went on, “The defendants already have more than sufficient discovery to provide the Court with a description of the type of information they consider relevant and helpful. The defendants’ motion can and should be denied on this ground alone.”
