Trump to attend key hearing in Mar-a-Lago classified documents case
Donald Trump is expected to attend a major court hearing on Friday in the criminal case over his retention of classified documents, during which a federal judge could set a new trial date and decide whether to allow the former president to make public the identity of government investigators.
The hearing – scheduled to start at 10am and split into two sessions in federal district court in Fort Pierce, Florida – could see the US district judge Aileen Cannon make a series of rulings that could alter the trajectory of the case.
Cannon’s main priority is expected to be setting a new trial date, after extended legal battles between Trump and prosecutors over issues related to classified discovery caused proceedings to run roughly four months behind schedule and made the original May trial date untenable.
Whether the judge will set a trial date in a ruling from the bench, or write an order later, remains unclear. Also uncertain is whether the judge decides to adopt a schedule suggested by Trump that culminates in an August trial, or a schedule suggested by prosecutors that culminates in a July trial.
Cannon has indicated that the morning part of the hearing will address Trump’s request that prosecutors provide them with reams of additional information that they believe will help mount a defense against the sweeping indictment last year charging Trump with violating the Espionage Act.
The 68-page filing submitted by Trump, known as a motion to compel discovery, at times read more like a list of political grievances that accused the US intelligence community of harboring bias in its classification assessments and purported collusion between prosecutors and the Biden White House.
But it was still a substantive motion that sought information about bias inside the intelligence agencies, so that Trump could challenge their national security assessments of the documents retrieved from Mar-a-Lago, and information about potential political bias among prosecutors.
The Trump lawyers also asked the judge to force prosecutors for information about their interest in Stanley Woodward, the lawyer for Trump valet and co-defendant Walt Nauta, who complained during the criminal investigation that he faced improper pressure to have Nauta cooperate against Trump.
In the afternoon part of the hearing, Cannon will focus on prosecutors’ request that she reconsider her ruling that they complained would allow Trump to make FBI documents produced during discovery public, revealing names of potential trial witnesses.
The motion from prosecutors argued Cannon applied the wrong legal standard when she allowed Trump to file exhibits without redactions. If Cannon did not reverse her decision, the filing said, prosecutors were prepared to appeal to force the reversal.
In the filing, prosecutors contended it was wrong for Cannon to to require public identification of more than two-dozen people who participated in the investigation, including some who may never testify at trial and would be able to maintain anonymity unless Cannon reversed.
It also asked Cannon to force Trump to file under seal the most sensitive exhibits he wanted to make public – such as transcripts of witness testimony before the grand jury, confidential FBI reports, non-public details of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence – and redact less sensitive exhibits.