The legal complexities tied to former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case are unique and the judge’s lack of experience in such a case could contribute to lingering delays, lawyers say.
Former President Donald Trump’s trial into his handling of classified documents is set for May 20, 2024. It’s one of several criminal and civil cases Trump faces as he runs for president.
Trump, who has pleaded not guilty in the documents case, called it an „empty hoax.“
The Justice Department wanted the trial to start in December; Trump’s legal team wanted to push it past the 2024 election.
Daniel Richman, a law professor at Columbia Law School, said U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s order Friday setting a May 20, 2024, trial date was „an appropriate and reasonable effort to balance the legitimate needs of the defendants against the need to move the case forward as expeditiously as possible.“
But the legal complexities involved, the quantity of classified evidence, and Cannon’s lack of experience in such a case could contribute to lingering delays and headaches for prosecutors, Richman and other legal experts told NPR.
„[Cannon] doesn’t have any experience in criminal cases involving classified information. She hasn’t actually presided over a lengthy jury trial. They’ve all been short,“ Stephen Saltzburg, a George Washington University law school professor and former Justice Department official, said of Cannon’s trial background. „On another hand, she might bring, as a younger judge, energy to this. But I think this is the kind of case where experience really does matter.“What are the specific charges against Trump?
Trump faces 37 charges, including more than 30 violations of the Espionage Act, over allegations he stored dozens of classified documents at his Florida resort and refused to return them to the FBI and the National Archives.
He and his aide, Walt Nauta, are also charged with making false statements and conspiring to obstruct justice. Nauta’s trial also starts on May 20.
The indictment alleges that Trump was personally involved in packing the classified documents as he left the White House in 2021, that he then bragged about having these secret materials and pushed his own lawyer to mislead the FBI about what he had stored at his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago. A trial date is set. That doesn’t mean it will stick
Cannon cited the the extensive evidence presented in the case as one of the reasons she pushed the start date to next year.
This evidence includes „more than 1.1 million pages of non-classified discovery produced thus far (some unknown quantity of which is described by the Government as „non-content“), at least nine months of camera footage (with disputes about pertinent footage), at least 1,545 pages of classified discovery ready to be produced (with more to follow), plus additional content from electronic devices and other sources yet to be turned over,“ Cannon wrote in her order.
Trump and Nauta’s teams have applied for a security clearance to go through the stacks of classified material ahead of the trial. This, alone could take weeks or even months to get approved — potentially pushing back Cannon’s deadline even more, said Barbara McQuade, a professor of practice at the University of Michigan Law School and a former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.
The attorneys will also be limited to where they can view these records. They won’t be able to view the records at their offices or whenever they want to like in an ordinary trial, McQuade noted.
„They will probably be allowed to review the classified documents only in what’s called a SCIF — a sensitive compartmented information facility — at the courthouse or at the FBI. They’ll have to make appointments to come in and review all of these documents,“ she said.
Pulling relevant records to show to the jury is just the discovery phase, „which in most cases is a pretty straightforward process. But because of the classified nature of the evidence in this case, I think it could be a little more cumbersome and could cause more delay,“ she said.
Richman was more direct: There will undoubtedly be delays in this case.
„One general rule is that trial dates, in the early stages of a case, are often placeholders and don’t mean anything.
