Reuters/Tasos Katopodis
Federal prosecutors on special counsel Jack Smith’s team are growing increasingly fed up with Donald Trump’s delay tactics, warning a judge on Thursday that he may be trying to manipulate the court.
“Trump’s actions in the hours following the hearing … confirm his overriding interest in delaying both trials at any cost,” Department of Justice prosecutors wrote in a filing to Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida federal court. “This Court should [not] allow itself to be manipulated in this fashion.”
Prosecutors were referring to a Wednesday hearing before Cannon in which Trump’s lawyers argued that it would be impossible for them to simultaneously work on the Florida trial, which deals with Trump’s alleged retention of classified documents, and a D.C. trial dealing with 2020 election interference, both of which are being prosecuted by Smith’s team. As of Thursday, the D.C. trial is set to begin in early March, and the Florida case is slated to kickoff in May, both of which are in the heart of primary season.