Judge Eileen Cannon (left) and former President Donald Trump (right)
Source: US Court (left) | Getty Images(R)
a florida A federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump has rejected Trump’s request to delay the scheduled start of his criminal trial on May 20 for keeping classified government documents after he left the White House. –at least for now–I rejected it.
In Friday’s ruling, Judge Eileen Cannon said she would reconsider her decision next spring after a March 1 hearing in the case. It comes just three days before Trump’s trial in another federal criminal case is scheduled to begin in Washington, D.C. To the aftermath of the 2020 election.
Cannon also on Friday extended deadlines for a series of pretrial legal filings in the case, citing what she called the “evolving complexities” associated with presenting evidence to Trump’s lawyers. This includes a significant increase in the amount of confidential information involved in the case. Case.
“Defendants need more time to consider discovery in this case,” Cannon wrote in the order in U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach. “This order is intended to provide that opportunity in a reasonable manner while balancing the public’s right to a speedy trial.”
The lawsuit alleges that Trump, along with employees of his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, kept confidential government documents even after his presidential term ended in January 2021, and that government officials and other employees of his club, Mar-a-Lago, in Florida, kept confidential government documents. He is accused of taking steps to prevent the recovery of classified documents.
He has pleaded not guilty in the case and said he was entitled to whatever he wanted from the White House.
On Friday, Trump went a step further, admitting that “various people” had seen “papers and boxes” he took in and around the club, prosecutors allege. There were 1,545 pages Confidential Materials.
“Of course they did! Like my rights under the Presidential Records Act, they could have been boxes etc. that were openly taken from the White House,” Trump said. Posted on social media.
The Presidential Records Act of 1978 states that “all records created or received by the President as part of his constitutional, statutory, or ceremonial duties are property of the United States government and shall be administered by NARA at the end of the year.” It is stipulated that “become.” government,” the National Archives notes. on the website.
“Under the PRA, the official records of the president and his staff are owned by the United States, not the president,” the site says.The archive is required by law Preserving these records when presidents, including Trump, leave office.
The timing of Trump’s trial in this case is important because he faces three other criminal cases and could go to trial as early as 2024.
Mr. Trump is currently the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, and his lawyers argue that a criminal trial would hinder his political campaigning. So far, judges have not been sympathetic to this argument.
Trump is separately indicted in D.C. federal court on several charges related to his attempt to undo his loss to President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
He is also facing charges in Georgia state court of conspiracy to try to overturn Biden’s election loss in the state.
He was also charged in New York state court in Manhattan with falsifying business records in connection with paying hush money to two women to silence claims that they had sex with him before the 2016 election. ing.
