Monday night, the Trump legal team requested that his trial be delayed until all “substantive motions” in the case had been decided. These deliberations could effectively secure a delay until the November 2024 election is either imminent or over entirely — and the lawyers haven’t made this strategy a secret. They argue that securing an impartial jury during so intense a political moment will prove almost impossible, as well as that the “time and energy” required to conduct a presidential campaign will render the defendants unable to prepare for the trial.
These tactics are easy to see through. Plenty of criminal defendants have busy schedules, and plenty of high-profile ones make the jury selection process highly challenging. That doesn’t stop their trials from happening. Mr. Trump knew he was being investigated when he decided to declare. Indeed, his allies have said privately that he views a 2024 win as a way to escape his legal hang-ups. He could direct his attorney general to drop the charges; he could even attempt to pardon himself. Indeed, his quest for a second term is precisely why a speedy trial is in the public interest: so voters can cast their ballots with full information, and so that there’s no opportunity to dodge accountability.
Special counsel Jack Smith’s petition for a Dec. 11 trial date might well be aggressive, especially given the complicated procedure the law demands for cases that involve classified information. The question of how to weigh due process against national security in discovery obviously deserves care, and a time extension could end up being necessary to parse the hundreds of thousands of pages of material under examination. Yet, it’s telling that Mr. Trump’s lawyers haven’t presented an alternative schedule to the prosecution’s. Instead, they have presented no schedule at all.
Judge Cannon now confronts the first real test of her ability to impartially oversee the case of the president who appointed her, and to whom she was suspiciously favorable regarding the approval of a special master early in the probe. The circumstances here are different; judges have considerable latitude when it comes to scheduling. An indefinite postponement, however, is not acceptable.
The Justice Department could seek intervention from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit if Judge Cannon accepts the motion. But there is also speculation that Mr. Smith has additional charges up his sleeve that he could bring in other jurisdictions, should he conclude the prosecution won’t get a fair hearing in Florida. The way Judge Cannon handles this motion could allay these concerns — or confirm them.
