How fast could we get a verdict in the Trump classified documents case? Mueller prosecutor Brandon Van Grack says there’s no reason this can’t end quickly.
Former President Donald Trump was indicted last week on 37 federal charges stemming from classified documents he kept at Mar-a-Lago. But will the wheels of justice now move quickly or grind to a halt? It’s in Trump’s interest to delay his trial as long as possible, for reasons that go beyond simply evading punishment. For one thing, a guilty verdict could harm his political standing, even if it appears right now that his GOP support isn’t going anywhere. For another, if Trump can push things off until after next year’s election, a pardon might be forthcoming — from himself or a sympathetic fellow Republican. With previously Trump-friendly federal judge Aileen Cannon in charge, there’s a real possibility that the former president could catch some legal breaks regarding timing. To gauge the likelihood of this possibility, I spoke with Brandon Van Grack, a national-security lawyer in private practice who worked on high-level national-security matters at the Department of Justice for a decade, including as a lead prosecutor for the Mueller investigation. After our conversation, on Tuesday morning, Cannon set a preliminary trial date for August 14 — though few expect that date to hold.
So I think you’re going to see the Department of Justice make every effort to bring it as quickly as possible. Now, whether that happens or not is going to be largely dependent on the judge, and how much she pushes to bring this case as quickly as possible.
Obviously Judge Cannon was very favorable to Trump when she handled this case previously. Nobody really knows what she’ll do this time around. From Jack Smith’s perspective, what is the worst-case scenario? How much could she delay the proceedings?
The judge has incredible authority to control the timing. And, like I said, there are going to be procedures and litigation with respect to the classified documents. You’re already seeing defense counsel indicating reasons why there should be delay.
I think a really important point to layer on top of all this, since 2024 is an election year, is that right now, this indictment is just allegations. These aren’t facts. They’re allegations, which the government says it has facts to support. There should be agreement on all sides, and among the public, that we should all want all of these facts — as well as what a jury thinks about those facts — out as quickly as possible, because they could influence the election.
