WASHINGTON — Delaying Donald Trump’s federal trial for his efforts to stop the peaceful transfer of power until 2026 would “deny the public its right to a speedy trial,” federal prosecutors for special counsel Jack Smith wrote in a court filing on Monday.
“In service of a proposed trial date in 2026 that would deny the public its right to a speedy trial, the defendant cites inapposite statistics and cases, overstates the amount of new and non-duplicative discovery, and exaggerates the challenge of reviewing it effectively,” Smith’s team wrote, responding to Trump’s request to delay the trial until April 2026.
The special counsel’s office has proposed starting jury selection in the federal election interference case in December and beginning the trial in January 2024.
Smith’s team wrote that Trump’s proposal is premised on the notion that lawyers will individually and manually review discovery, which is not consistent with modern practices.
“The defendant’s proposed trial date, however, rests on the faulty assertion that it is necessary for a lawyer to conduct a page-by-page review of discovery for a defendant to receive a fair trial. But the defendant can, should, and apparently will adopt the benefits of electronic review to reduce the volume of material needed to be searched and manually reviewed,” Smith’s team wrote.
“In cases such as this one, the burden of reviewing discovery cannot be measured by page count alone, and comparisons to the height of the Washington Monument and the length of a Tolstoy novel are neither helpful nor insightful; in fact, comparisons such as those are a distraction from the issue at hand—which is determining what is required to prepare for trial,” they wrote. “To accomplish that, the discovery should instead be measured by its relevance, organization, accessibility, searchability, and reviewability. Here, the Government has organized and produced materials in a manner designed to ease and expedite the defendant’s review and search, which allows for trial to proceed as the Government has proposed.”
A hearing is set for Monday, Aug. 28, at which point Judge Tonya Chutkan is expected to set a trial date.