Fort Pierce stays quiet during first pretrial hearing in Trump classified documents case

The pair of Federal Protective Service vehicles parked on the sidewalk outside the Alto Lee Adams Sr. U.S. Courthouse Tuesday morning were among few clues the weekday was different from any other in downtown Fort Pierce.

A phalanx of reporters lingered under tents on the opposite side of U.S. 1 but didn’t form the media circus one might expect. Around 8:30 a.m., traffic trundled along the highway as usual at its intersection with Orange Avenue. Not a protester was in sight.

But inside the federal courthouse, northernmost in the Southern District of Florida, history was scheduled to be made. At 2 p.m., the first pretrial hearing in the first federal criminal trial of a former president would begin.

Tuesday’s hearing initially was slated to discuss how classified documents would be handled in United States v. Donald Trump and Waltine “Walt” Nauta. On Monday, however, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, of Vero Beach, ordered the hearing also would address trial scheduling.

Cannon last month tentatively scheduled the trial for Aug. 14-25, but Justice Department prosecutors have requested a continuance to Dec. 11. Most recently, the 2024 presidential candidate’s lawyers have asked that the trial be delayed indefinitely, saying, “there is most assuredly no reason for any expedited trial.”

Trump was not expected in the Sunrise City Tuesday, but his valet, Nauta, attended. That didn’t stop at least one local business from welcoming the former president. The marquee outside Dirty Martini Restaurant & Steakhouse read, “PRESIDENT TRUMP FORT PIERCE WELCOMES YOU.”

At least one local woman was crossing her fingers she’d see Trump somehow. Lynn Rowe, 68, of Fort Pierce, was parked behind the courthouse in the early afternoon.

“I was just hoping to catch a glimpse,” she said.

Rowe said she’d been there for a few minutes and had circled around several times.

“I think this is a great place to have it because you won’t have as many people as you would in Miami,” she said.

One unexpected guest appeared intent on sneaking up to the scene: a peacock crossing South Fifth Street just behind the courthouse.

Over a dozen members of the media milled about the courthouse around noon, at which time those who had registered at 8 a.m. were allowed to enter. Only the first 10 to 15 people on the list would be escorted to the courtroom itself. No one — even those relegated to the jury assembly room — were allowed to bring electronic devices.

Trump, now a private citizen residing at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, is charged with 37 criminal counts in relation to the recovery of over 300 classified documents he allegedly took upon leaving the White House. Thirty-one of those counts are willful retention of national defense information.

Trump and Nauta are both charged with:

• 1 count of conspiracy to obstruct justice

• 1 count of withholding a document or record

• 1 count of corruptly concealing a document or record

• 1 count of concealing a document in a federal investigation

• 1 count of scheme to conceal

• 1 count of false statements and representations.

The codefendants have pleaded not guilty to all charges.

USA TODAY Network — Florida digital producer C.A. Bridges contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Fort Pierce hosts first pretrial hearing in Trump classified docs case