Trump to seek delay of classified documents case as judge weighs new timeline

By Andrew Goudsward and Andy Sullivan

FORT PIERCE, Florida (Reuters) - Lawyers for Donald Trump will be in court on Friday seeking to delay a trial on charges the former U.S. president illegally held onto classified documents, as a federal judge wrestles with whether Trump should face a jury before the November election.

Trump's lawyers wrote in a court filing on Thursday that he cannot have a "fair trial" while he is running for president. Nevertheless, in response to a request from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, Trump's legal team proposed an Aug. 12 trial date, which would extend the case into the fall presidential campaign.

The trial is currently scheduled for May 20. Friday's hearing in a Florida federal courthouse is expected to provide some clarity on the future of the case.

U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is prosecuting the case, has proposed a July 8 start date. That would begin the trial just a week before the Republican nominating convention, where Trump is expected to be named his party's standard-bearer.

Trump has sought to delay all four criminal trials he faces until after the Nov. 5 presidential election. If he were to win, he would be in a position to shut down this case and another that was brought under federal law.

That strategy has yielded results.

A trial had been due to start on Monday on federal charges that Trump illegally sought to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, but that has been delayed indefinitely while the U.S. Supreme Court considers his argument that he should not be prosecuted for actions he took as president.

Trump this month made a similar presidential immunity argument in the classified documents case.

Another trial stemming from his attempts to overturn the election is also in limbo as a Georgia judge considers whether to remove the prosecutor, who has admitted to having a romantic affair with a lawyer she hired for the case against Trump and others.

At this point, only one of Trump's pending criminal cases are certain to go to trial before November. On March 25, jury selection will begin in a New York state court where Trump faces charges of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to a porn star.

In the Florida case, Trump faces charges that he unlawfully kept classified information after leaving the White House in January 2021 and misled officials who tried to recover them.

Meanwhile, Trump has won a string of Republican state presidential nominating contests and could clinch the party's nomination this month.

The criminal cases pose political as well as legal risks for Trump, 77. According to Reuters/Ipsos polling, one in four Republicans and half of independent voters say they would not vote for Trump if he was convicted of a crime.

Trump is not the only former elected official to face accusations of improperly handling sensitive U.S. documents.

A federal prosecutor uncovered evidence that Biden knowingly took classified documents when he left the vice presidency in 2017, but opted not to bring criminal charges earlier this month, noting that he had cooperated with the investigation and a conviction would be difficult to obtain.

(Reporting by Andrew Goudward in Fort Pierce, Florida and Andy Sullivan in Washington; Editing by Scott Malone and Christian Schmollinger)