Former President Donald Trump and his lawyers have scored several legal victories recently in the form of trial delays -- delays that could extend several upcoming trials until well after the November election.
In the classified documents case, brought forth by Special Counsel Jack Smith last year, Trump's trial was set to begin this May, however, recent developments and orders by the federal judge overseeing the case have undoubtedly pushed that date much further back -- potentially until after November.
According to The Washington Post, U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon issued orders to both sides in the case to write up specific jury instructions related to the Presidential Records Act (PRA) and how it might be interpreted at trial.
The move has "baffled" legal experts and multiple media outlets have piled on, bringing in a constant stream of "experts" who claim that Cannon's orders for both sides to submit the instructions before a jury has even been set is far out of the ordinary.
WaPo explained what Cannon, a Trump-appointed federal judge, recently ordered from both sides of the case.
She has given the sides two weeks to craft jury instructions around competing interpretations of the Presidential Records Act, often referred to as the PRA. While the law says presidential records belong to the public and are to be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration at the end of a presidency, Trump’s lawyers have argued the PRA gave Trump the right to keep classified materials as his personal property.
Because of that order alone, the previously scheduled May trial date is an absolute no-go. And that seems to be quite triggering for those against Trump.
Obviously, they're triggered as they want to see at least one of the federal cases against him go to trial before the November election in the hopes that he's convicted and that it would hamstring his presidential campaign.
Nancy Gertner, a former federal judge in Massachusetts, was extremely upset at Cannon's order.
"What she has asked the parties to do is very, very troubling," Gertner said. "She is giving credence to arguments that are on their face absurd. She is ignoring a raft of other motions, equally absurd, that are unreasonably delaying the case."
That sentiment has been parroted across the mainstream media ever since Cannon's orders were issued, with some even suggesting that Cannon is purposely helping Trump delay the trial as far out as possible.
While his federal trials may be far off in the distance, the former president will soon have to face his first indictment, which was issued by Alvin Bragg out of New York over alleged "hush money" payments to Stormy Danials.
That trial is set to begin on April 15, and when Trump was asked if he believes a conviction in that trial could derail his presidential ambitions, Trump responded with a starkly different thought on the outcome if that were to be the case.
"Well, it could also make me more popular because the people know it’s a scam," Trump said, according to The Hill.
Many polls have shown that Trump's supporters will still overwhelmingly support him despite any potential convictions.
