Former President Donald Trump is asking a judge to delay setting a trial date in his classified documents case, citing the extraordinary nature of a prosecution that could happen during the 2024 presidential race and what his lawyers cast as complex legal issues.
In a court filing late Monday, Trump attorneys cite "the sheer volume" of materials they must review in the case, which charges Trump and his valet with conspiring to obstruct a federal probe by hiding highly classified materials Trump had stored in a bathroom and a ballroom at his Florida resort. Those papers included secrets about defense and weapons capabilities of the U.S. government and its allies, according to the indictment.
Trump is the first former president to face federal charges from a government he once led — a fact that lawyers Christopher Kise and Todd Blanche highlighted in their request for delay. Among other complications, they said, would be the challenge of selecting a jury during the 2024 presidential race, where Trump is running against the current president, Joe Biden.
