Prosecutors working under the supervision of Special Counsel Jack Smith have urged Judge Aileen Cannon to reject former president Donald Trump’s request to indefinitely postpone his trial on charges that he allegedly unlawfully retained national defence information and conspired with his aide Walt Nauta to obstruct justice.
In an 11-page filing submitted on Thursday, Mr Smith’s team said Mr Trump and Mr Nauta have provided no valid legal justification for their request to delay any trial until a to-be-determined date set for sometime after the 2024 presidential election, and noted that such an open-ended request violates the 1974 Speedy Trial Act’s requirement that courts establish a “date certain” for trial “at the earliest practicable time” after consulting with both prosecution and defence counsel.
