Justice Department (DOJ) special counsel Jack Smith, who was assigned to investigate Donald Trump days after the launch of the former president’s reelection campaign, has pushed back against Mr. Trump’s request to schedule the trial until after the 2024 elections.
Assistant special counsel David Harbach wrote in the latest filing on Thursday that there was “no basis” for this delay, and requested a trial date of Dec. 11, 2023, and that a number of the defenses were legally “meritless” and “borders on frivolous” (pdf).
“The demands of the Defendants’ professional schedules do not provide a basis to delay trial in this case. Many indicted defendants have demanding jobs that require a considerable amount of time and energy, or a significant amount of travel,” he wrote….