Judge denies Trump bid to delay classified documents trial

A federal judge in Florida, for now, declined to delay the start of former President Trump’s criminal case over his handling of classified documents, though she did push back several pretrial deadlines in the case.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon ruled Friday that she would dismiss the motion from Trump’s legal team “without prejudice” against taking it up again in the future. The trial’s start date could be reconsidered at a scheduling conference on March 1, she wrote.

The order is a small victory for special counsel Jack Smith’s team, which had strongly argued against any delays in the case by suggesting that the former president wanted to push the case until after the 2024 presidential election. Trump is the undisputed front-runner in the GOP presidential primary.

Trump is facing Espionage Act charges in the Mar-a-Lago case after refusing to return classified records from his time as president, as well as obstruction of justice charges for his efforts to conceal them from prosecutors.

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