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Following confessions of tampering with evidence and a House committee investigation, Trump’s classified documents trial has been put on hold.
From Reuters. Donald Trump’s trial in Florida on charges of illegally keeping classified documents after leaving office has been indefinitely postponed, a judge decided on Tuesday, greatly reducing the odds he will face a jury in either of the two federal criminal cases against him before the Nov. 5 U.S. election.
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Trump, seeking to regain the presidency, previously had been scheduled to go to trial on May 20 in the documents case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith, but the prosecution and defense had both acknowledged that date would need to be delayed.
Smith faces significant obstacles to getting either federal case against Trump to trial before the election. Cannon is yet to rule on several legal issues crucial to the documents case and has signaled support for Trump’s defense on some matters.
In a separate case brought by Smith involving Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, the U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to recognize that former presidents have at least some immunity from prosecution over official actions. That outcome mostly likely would further delay Trump’s election-related case as lower courts determine which allegations against him are covered by that legal shield. …
In an April Reuters/Ipsos poll, nearly a quarter of Republican respondents and more than half of independents indicated they would not vote for Trump if a jury convicts him of a felony.
If either federal case reaches a jury before the election, it would likely be in the weeks immediately before Nov. 5, an outcome sure to draw accusations of election interference from Trump’s legal team. …
But a Trump win in November may mean that neither case ever reaches a jury. As president, Trump could direct the Justice Department to drop the federal charges or seek to pardon himself. …
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(Excerpt from Reuters. Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America – Donald Trump, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons)