Judge starts hitting brakes in Trump’s documents case

by Lauren Irwin - 07/06/24 3:24 PM ET

Former President Trump enters at a campaign event on June 18, 2024, in Racine, Wis. Former President Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money case has been postponed until Sept. 18. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps, File)

The federal judge overseeing former President Trump’s classified documents case granted his request to delay a few deadlines further so prosecutors can evaluate the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling.

Trump’s lawyers on Friday asked Judge Aileen Cannon for permission to file more documents to argue that the former president should be immune from prosecution in the case.

In their motion this week, Trump’s team proposed a schedule that extends through early September, meaning a ruling wouldn’t come until at least the fall.

On Saturday, Cannon, a Trump appointee, said prosecutors and special counsel Jack Smith had until July 18 to respond to the Trump argument requesting for a delay.

Cannon also postponed two deadlines in the case, which is only expected to cause a minor delay.

The former president has pleaded not guilty in the case.

Trump’s lawyers say the recent Supreme Court decision that grants presidents protections for official acts should apply to the case, in which he is accused of mishandling classified records and attempting to obstruct the government from retrieving them after he was out of office.

The former president’s team asked Cannon to halt the case except for the pending request for a gag order. His lawyers also noted Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurring opinion in the Supreme Court decision, where he questioned special counsel Jack Smith’s motivations and authority.

Smith argued that fallout from the Supreme Court decision doesn’t apply to the documents case because he has not charged Trump over any official acts. The prosecution said the documents were taken and he tried to obstruct the FBI from obtaining them at his Mar-a-Lago residence after he was already out of power.

The 6-3 ruling along ideological lines dismantles some of Smith’s indictment of Trump but prosecutors largely have dismissed the idea that the case should be thrown out entirely.

There is no trial date set in the case. Cannon was criticized after she suspended the start date of the trial indefinitely after saying she needed more time to examine pretrial motions filed by Trump’s team asking her to toss the case.

Updated at 6:53 p.m. EST.