Trump says he cannot get fair trial this year in classified documents case

Donald Trump’s lawyers told a U.S. judge on Thursday that he believes he cannot get a fair trial this year on charges of mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House, while he campaigns to try to recapture the presidency.
U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is bringing the case against Trump, asked on Thursday for a July 8 start to the trial.
Lawyers for the former president said in their filing that Trump “strongly asserts that a fair trial cannot be conducted this year in a manner consistent with the Constitution.”
After making that assertion on the filing’s first page, however, they went on to suggest an Aug. 12, 2024, start to the trial on the seventh page.
The filings were made ahead of a Friday court hearing where U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon plans to consider arguments on when to start the trial, one of four criminal prosecutions facing Trump.