Former President Trump’s lawyers and the special counsel who accused him of holding secret documents after leaving the White House meet in federal court on Tuesday for a hearing

to set a trial date and

how classified materials

will be shared during the procedure.

Trump was charged with 37 felonies in June following an investigation by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who wrote in the indictment that Trump illegally collected classified documents when his presidency ended in 2021, and subsequently the administration’s efforts to retrieve hundreds of classified documents , hindered. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Tuesday’s hearing is the first for Judge Aileen Cannon, who set a trial date for mid-August that is expected to be moved due to

Unpleasant

the unprecedented questions involved in deciding how attorneys and the jury will view the classified materials involved in the case.

The government has asked that the trial begin in December. Trump’s lawyers want the trial postponed indefinitely, citing possible interference with Trump’s ability to campaign for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.

Trump

was not expected to be present at the hearing, but and

co-defendant Walt Nauta, an aide to the former president accused of obstructing government efforts to recover the documents,

was seen arriving shortly before it started. not be expected to be present at the hearing, upon which the hearing

is focused on how the national security law is known as the Classified Information Procedures Act

or CIPA,

will affect the case. Lawyers

in the case

will discuss how Trump and Nauta’s due process rights will be upheld alongside national security interests in the highly classified materials the FBI recovered from Trump’s Florida home nearly two years after he left office.

The indictment alleges that the documents recovered include some of the country’s most secrets, including details of US and foreign nuclear and other defense capabilities, potential vulnerabilities of the US and its allies to military strikes, and plans for possible retaliation. in response to such an attack.

The judge determines what the government is obligated to share in discovery and what is ultimately admissible in court.

i

If the government disagrees with the way the judge rules on a particular secret discovery issue, they have the option of appealing.

Much attention will be paid to how Cannon, a Trump appointee, governs. She was criticized for ruling last year to appoint a special master to review the classified documents and other materials removed during the FBI search

of Trump’s estate

and determine whether anything should be returned to Trump. Her rulings, which delayed the investigation for several weeks, were overturned by the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which said she never had the legal authority to intervene.

On Monday, Smith filed a motion for a protection order over classified information the government hands over for discovery, which is intended to prevent unauthorized disclosure of evidence reviewed in the course of the case.

Prosecutors wrote that Trump’s team objected to some elements of the proposed order, but did not specify which parts. The special counsel also said so in the legal application

It

has already turned over two installments of documents related to evidence obtained through subpoenas, search warrants and witness interviews.