Jack Smith: Trump’s New Bid to Halt DC Proceedings ‘Confirm His Overriding Interest in Delaying Both Trials at Any Cost’

Special Counsel Jack Smith's prosecutors on Thursday morning slammed Donald Trump's legal team for trying to delay both of his federal criminal cases and warned one of the judges in the middle of the controversy that she may be "manipulated" by the former president's arguments.

The two-page filing from Smith counselor Jay Bratt landed before U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in South Florida and sought to bring her attention to a new motion from the Trump team submitted less than 12 hours earlier in his Washington, D.C., criminal case.

In that letter, Trump's team on Wednesday night asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to immediately halt all proceedings in the former president's election interference case until she renders an opinion on the pre-trial question of whether a chief executive of the United States is immune from criminal proceedings.

Bratt's complaint: Trump's lawyers had "failed to disclose" their plans to file that motion to stay the D.C. proceedings during a separate hearing before Judge Cannon earlier Wednesday where the president's lawyers were raising concerns over scheduling conflicts between the two upcoming federal criminal trials.

Cannon had signaled during the Wednesday hearing she was open to changing her May trial where the former president faces felony charges he mishandled classified documents after leaving the White House and obstructed the federal investigation alongside two other co-defendants.

"As the Government argued to the Court yesterday, the trial date in the District of Columbia case should not be a determinative factor in the Court’s decision whether to modify the dates in this matter," Bratt wrote on Thursday morning to Cannon.

Bratt added: "Defendant Trump’s actions in the hours following the hearing in this case illustrate the point and confirm his overriding interest in delaying both trials at any cost. This Court should [not] allow itself to be manipulated in this fashion."

The word "not" wasn't included in the final sentence of Bratt's filed brief, but a spokesman for Smith's office confirmed to The Messenger on Thursday its absence was a typo.

Cannon, an appointee of Trump, didn't make an immediate ruling on the May trial schedule but noted she was open to making adjustments because of how close it was to the start of the D.C. case in March. “I’m having trouble seeing how that can be accomplished in a compressed period of time given the realities we’re facing," the judge said.

Trump faces a total of 91 state and federal felony counts in four jurisdictions, and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

His federal trial in D.C. is scheduled to begin March 4, and Judge Chutkan has so far resisted Trump's overtures to delay her schedule due to the former president's 2024 White House campaign.

A separate New York City criminal case connected to allegations of hush money payments to an adult film actress during the 2016 presidential campaign is set to start on March 25, though the lead prosecutor has signaled he's willing to move the start date.

The trial in the Florida documents case is currently scheduled to begin on May 20, 2024 — Cannon is considering a request from Trump's team to delay the proceedings until after the 2024 presidential election.

In Georgia, Trump and his 14 remaining co-defendants charged in a criminal case for trying to overturn the 2020 election results do not have a trial date yet. But the judge there has scheduled a Dec. 1 hearing to consider several motions to dismiss the case.