FORT PIERCE, Fla. — U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon is set to hear Tuesday from federal prosecutors and attorneys representing former President Donald Trump on charges that he mishandled sensitive government documents after leaving the White House.
Trump’s attorneys and prosecutors for the special counsel are due to discuss how they will handle classified material in the case and how it would be presented at trial.
Trump’s co-defendant Walt Nauta, who served as an aide to the former president, arrived at the courthouse before the hearing with his defense lawyers Stan Woodward and Sasha Dadan.
Cannon, a Trump appointee, could also share new insight into the timing of a trial, an issue that has divided the two sides, with the Justice Department calling in a recent filing for the case to proceed “expeditiously.”
Defense attorneys have urged a delay in the trial until after the 2024 presidential election, arguing that the scope of the indictment makes the timeline “untenable.”
“This extraordinary case presents a serious challenge to both the fact and perception of our American democracy,” attorneys for the former president wrote in a recent filing. Trump is also the front-runner in the polls for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, another complicating feature. Prosecutors rejected the argument and instead called for Cannon to set a date for December.
Cannon could also ask whether the charges presented by the government are final, potentially revealing new information about the possibility of a superseding indictment, which would allow new charges to be added.
The 2 p.m. hearing, at Cannons’s home courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida, a small oceanfront city about an hour from Palm Beach, is the first step in an unprecedented case in which Trump and Nauta have pleaded not guilty. Trump is not expected to appear on Tuesday.
Trump faces more potential legal jeopardy, with a separate grand jury investigation into an alleged effort to halt the transfer of power after the 2020 election signaling another indictment.
Shortly before the Florida hearing, Trump said in a Truth Social post that he received a target letter on Sunday giving him four days to respond to the grand jury if he wants. The former president said the letter “almost aways means an Arrest and Indictment.”
Trump last month pleaded not guilty to a 37-count indictment that he mishandled classified documents after leaving office, while Nauta, a Trump aide and former White House valet, pleaded not guilty to six felony counts.
Both were arraigned in a Miami federal court.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
