NYU School of Law Professor Kenji Yoshino on Thursday described one element of Donald Trump’s new legal filing in his classified documents case as “one of the most chilling things that I’ve seen in 25 years of teaching constitutional law.”
The trial schedule proposed by the former president’s defense attorneys ― with its references to the dates of the Republican National Convention and the GOP front-runner’s other 2024 campaign commitments — “did more than anything else to knock my socks off,” Yoshino told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
“It’s just this idea that you have somebody who’s saying, ‘Here’s a pretrial motion and then here’s the Republican National Convention,’” the legal scholar explained. “It just suggests that this is the very first time in our nation’s history that we’ve had an individual who’s a front-runner, running for president, who was a former president, who’s under a criminal indictment.”
“This has never happened before,” Yoshino added. “This is completely uncharted territory.”
On Thursday, special counsel Jack Smith proposed a July 8 start date for the trial. Trump is accused of illegally retaining classified documents after leaving the White House. He denies the allegations, claiming they are politically motivated.
Trump’s attorneys noted in a filing that the trial would be taking place during the RNC, which is being held July 15-18 in Milwaukee.
Despite his legal woes, Trump remains the clear favorite to win the GOP nomination and take on President Joe Biden in November.
Trump’s attorneys countered Smith’s suggestion with a post-election start date, or suggested it should begin on Aug. 12. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon is due to hold a hearing on the trial’s possible start date on Friday.
Collins asked Yoshino if Cannon should consider Trump’s campaigning when making a decision.
“I think in an ideal world, she should not,” Yoshino replied. “I mean, no one is above the law. This is a criminal proceeding. She should just set the dates as it were. But I can’t imagine as a human being, she’ll be able to ignore that.”