U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is bringing the case
against Trump, asked on Thursday for a July 8 start to the
trial.
Lawyers for the former president said in their filing that Trump
"strongly asserts that a fair trial cannot be conducted this
year in a manner consistent with the Constitution."
After making that assertion on the filing's first page, however,
they went on to suggest an Aug. 12, 2024, start to the trial on
the seventh page. A Trump attorney did not immediately respond
to a request for comment on the discrepancy.
The filings were made ahead of a Friday court hearing where U.S.
District Judge Aileen Cannon plans to consider arguments on when
to start the trial, one of four criminal prosecutions facing
Trump, the clear frontrunner for the Republican presidential
nomination.
Cannon previously pushed back several pre-trial deadlines, but
said she would wait until Friday to consider moving the
scheduled May 20 trial.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 40 federal counts accusing him
of retaining sensitive national security documents at his
Florida resort after leaving office in 2021 and obstructing U.S.
government efforts to retrieve them.
Trump is charged alongside his personal aide Walt Nauta and
Carlos de Oliveira, a property manager at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Both have pleaded not guilty.
Trump has repeatedly sought to delay all four of the criminal
cases against him, which he has claimed are part of a
politically motivated effort to damage his election campaign.
Trump is due to face trial in state court in New York beginning
on March 25 on charges that he falsified records to pay hush
money to a porn star ahead of the 2016 election.
The timing of the other three cases remains uncertain and it is
unclear whether any will go to trial before the November
election.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Scott Malone and
Daniel Wallis)
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