Donald Trump’s lawyers have asked the federal judge overseeing the criminal case against him to postpone the trial until after the US presidential election in 2024.
District Judge Aileen Cannon said last month that the jury trial in the case over Mr Trump’s handling of classified documents is set to take place over a two-week period from August 14.
The date, if it holds, would put Mr Trump on trial nine days ahead of the first Republican presidential debate on August 23.
Prosecutors had already asked Judge Cannon to delay the case until December 11 in order to give both sides sufficient time to prepare.
However, in a filing on Monday, Mr Trump’s lawyers said a December trial date denies them reasonable time to prepare as it clashes with his ongoing presidential election bid. They also described the August start as “unrealistic”.
"The court should therefore withdraw the current order setting trial and postpone any consideration of a new trial date," the lawyers said, adding that a continuance was both necessary and appropriate.
Mr Trump was arraigned in federal court in Miami last month and pleaded not guilty to charges he unlawfully kept national security documents when he left office and lied to officials who sought to recover them.
He is free to continue campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination as the judge made no restrictions on his travel.
The former president is indicted with 37 federal charges under America’s Espionage Act.
It is claimed he illegally held on to classified defence documents from his time in power and obstructed justice.
The files are said to include information on US weapons and nuclear programs, potential military vulnerabilities of the US and allies, and retaliation plans in case of a foreign attack.
Prosecutors say Trump haphazardly stored them at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and refused to return them to the FBI and National Archives.
He says that, as president, he had the power to declassify the files.
