Donald Trump lawyers on Monday asked Judge Aileen Cannon — who's over the ex-president's Florida classified documents case — for a deadline extension on replies to their motions to dismiss the case altogether. Cannon has already agreed to move the deadline from Thursday, March 14 to March 24 — one day before Trump's New York hush money trial.
The Trump lawyers' letter to the judge comes three days before the hearing Cannon scheduled for their arguments to dismiss the case.
According to Newsweek, the MAGA hopeful's lawyers wrote, "President Trump and counsel are currently preparing for a trial in New York, New York that is scheduled to begin on March 25, 2024, and the need to simultaneously devote attention to that case and this matter has been necessitated in part by the discovery violations and strategic scheduling demands of the Special Counsel's Office that have prejudiced President Trump in multiple respects."
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Neama Rahmani, an ex-federal prosecutor, "told Newsweek that Cannon has not been 'particularly aggressive in pushing this case forward.'"
Rahmani noted, "The parties are still engaged in disputes over discovery and the disclosure of witness names. Having to prepare for two trials is not the best argument in support of an extension, but Judge Cannon has appeared receptive to the defense's procedural tactics to delay the case, so I wouldn't be surprised if she granted the request."
Cannon did accept the request Monday night, according to MSNBC legal correspondent Lisa Rubin.
Rubin reported via X (formerly Twitter), "NEW: Judge Cannon just gave Trump and his co-defendants the 10 extra days to reply to their own plethora of motions to dismiss that they asked for today, despite Trump’s lawyers talking out of both sides of their mouths."
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She added, "One of Trump’s preferred reasons for needing more time was his 3/25 trial date in NY. Hours later, however, he asked the NY trial judge to adjourn that trial until after the Supreme Court rules on his presidential immunity appeal."
Rubin emphasized, "The Special Counsel made Cannon aware of that inconvenient fact. No matter; Cannon still granted the request (and quickly)."
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