Judge said prosecutors 'a bit rushed' on Trump trial, vows to set trial date soon

FORT PIERCE — The federal judge tasked with overseeing former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case dealt the first blow to prosecutors Tuesday, denying their last-minute bid to partially restrict Trump and his codefendant from accessing classified evidence as they prepare for trial.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon called the effort “a bit rushed” and chided prosecutors for filing their motion Monday without first conferring with the defense attorneys. She also questioned prosecutors' proposed Dec. 11 trial date, weighing whether the complexity of the case may warrant more time for attorneys on both sides to prepare.

Cannon did not issue an order rescheduling the trial but promised to do so soon.

Classified records case: You won't see pictures from inside Trump's federal trial in Fort Pierce. Here's why.

Tuesday’s hearing, the first pretrial conference held in the classified documents case, saw lengthy debate over whether Trump’s status as a presidential candidate warranted an indefinite delay of the trial. Cannon, like prosecutors, seemed unconvinced that it did.

She repeatedly prodded Trump's defense attorneys Todd Blanche and Christopher Kise to propose a new trial date, which is tentatively scheduled to begin in August. Blanche landed on late November 2024 — after the presidential election.

He pointed to the sheer amount of discovery prosecutors have yet to hand over and the nationwide attention on Trump, which he said may prevent attorneys from finding a fair and unbiased jury. Delaying the trial would let that attention abate, Blanche said. Failure to do so would give the appearance of "two leading presidential candidates squaring off in the courtroom."

Justice Department attorney David Harbach called the portrayal "flat-out false."

“In short, Mr. Trump is not the president. He is a defendant indicted by a grand jury," Harbach told Cannon. “Our view is he should be treated like anyone else."

Trump did not attend Tuesday's hearing, but his valet and codefendant, Walt Nauta, did. He sat between defense attorneys Sasha Dadan and Stanley Woodward while Trump's legal team argued that ignoring his status as a political contender would be "intellectually dishonest."

Woodward echoed their plea for more time even though his client, Nauta, isn't running for president. Woodward said he may move to sever Nauta's criminal case from Trump's, but that he needs to review all discovery — which includes more than 1.1 million pages of documents and over three years of video — before he can make the decision.

The logistics of combing through prosecutors' mountain of discovery, some of which the defense attorneys don't yet have the security clearance to review, seemed most compelling to Cannon. She steered Trump's attorneys away from discussing how his popularity in the news may unfairly influence his trial and refocused their attention on how much time they believe they need to prepare a defense.

Justice Department attorney Jay Bratt maintained that the "aggressive timeline" he proposed was long enough. Dadan traded glances with Kise and shook her head as the prosecutor explained that though the first batch of discovery included more than 8,000 pages, the Justice Department identified only 450 key documents among them.

What prosecutors deem significant isn't what's most significant to the defendants, Blanche told Cannon later. They need to review it all.

Cannon listened to each side argue, nodding occasionally. She had no patience for attorneys hedging their answers to her questions, often interrupting them when they began to veer.

"I'd like to wrap this up," she said at the end of the nearly two hour-long hearing. She sighed when Bratt stood once more to make a final argument.

Capitol attack: Donald Trump target in Jan. 6 investigation, predicts arrest and indictment in Jack Smith probe

Though absent from the courtroom, Trump made headlines from afar, confirming that he is a "target" of a federal investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Trump said Special Counsel Jack Smith has given him four days to appear before a grand jury.

He did not say what charges may be pending against him, though a congressional committee previously recommended those related to aiding an insurrection, conspiring to make false statements, defraud the U.S. and obstruct an official proceeding of Congress.

Tuesday’s hearing drew none of the clamor and crowds that marked Trump's arraignment in Miami last month, though it wasn't without onlookers. Lynn Rowe, 68, of Fort Pierce parked behind the downtown federal courthouse on Tuesday afternoon in an effort to see the former president.

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

A sign in front of a nearby steakhouse read: “President Trump, Fort Pierce welcomes you.”

Trump never saw it. He traveled to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for a televised town hall with Fox News host Sean Hannity, instead.

Hannah Phillips is a journalist covering public safety and criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Judge Cannon said prosecutors 'a bit rushed' on Trump trial