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But
in the filing late on Monday, Trump's lawyers said a December
trial date would deny them reasonable time to prepare, and
described the government's requested schedule as "unrealistic."
"The court should therefore withdraw the current order setting
trial and postpone any consideration of a new trial date," the
lawyers said, adding that a continuance was both necessary and
appropriate.
The U.S. Justice Department did not immediately respond to a
request for comment outside regular hours.
Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential
nomination, pleaded not guilty in federal court on June 13 in
Miami to charges that he had unlawfully kept classified national
security documents when he left office in 2021 and lied to
officials who sought to recover them.
In the filing, Trump's lawyers said a December trial was
untenable in view of the logistical demands of his presidential
election bid, a potentially large amount of evidence they might
need to review, and other cases he faces.
The documents case will unfold under a strict set of rules
prescribed by the Classified Information Procedures Act, which
aims to protect classified evidence and manage disclosure of
such records.
U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith, in his June 23 request to delay
the trial by about four months, had anticipated that Trump's
side would oppose the proposed prosecution schedule.
Nauta, Trump's aide, pleaded not guilty last week in a Miami
federal courthouse to charges that he had helped Trump hide top
secret documents taken when he left the White House.
(Reporting by Bharat Govind Gautam in Bengaluru; Editing by
Clarence Fernandez)
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