Donald Trump scores major court win

Donald Trump has scored a rare legal victory this week, effectively delaying a criminal case against him.

While his hush money trial continues in New York, Donald Trump has scored a victory in another court case that was due to take place in Florida.

A judge in that state has indefinitely postponed the former US President’s criminal trial over his alleged mishandling of highly classified documents, making it unlikely the case will be heard before the November presidential election.

The former president had been scheduled to go on trial on May 20 but District Judge Aileen Cannon said that was not possible because of the number of pre-trial motions before the court.

Judge Cannon, a Trump appointee, did not set a new date for the start of the federal trial.

The postponement is a major setback for special counsel Jack Smith, who brought the charges against Mr Trump, and makes it unlikely the case will be heard before the election now less than six months away, in which Mr Trump is the Republican presumptive nominee for president.

Donald Trump speaks to the press at his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City. Picture: Win McNamee /Getty Images via AFP

Mr Trump’s lawyers have sought to delay his various criminal cases until after the election, when the 77-year-old could potentially have the federal charges against him dropped if he wins.

Mr Trump is currently on trial in New York on state charges of falsifying business records to pay hush money to a porn star ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Mr Trump pleaded not guilty in Florida last June to the federal charges of unlawfully retaining national defence information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements.

He kept the classified files – which included records from the Pentagon, CIA and National Security Agency – unsecured at his Mar-a-Lago home in West Palm Beach, Florida, and thwarted official efforts to retrieve them, according to the indictment.

This undated file image, released by the US District Court Southern District of Florida, attached as evidence in the indictment against former US president Donald Trump shows stacks of boxes in a bathroom and shower allegedly in the Lake Room at Mar-a-Lago, the former president's private club. Picture: US Department of Justice / AFP

Judge Cannon, in her order, said the sheer number of pre-trial motions and the classified nature of some of the evidence in the case made it impossible to stick to the May trial date.

“The Court therefore vacates the current May 20, 2024 trial date,” she said.

A new date would be “reset by separate order following resolution of the matters before the Court, consistent with the Defendants’ right to due process and the public’s interest in the fair and efficient administration of justice,” Judge Cannon said.

In addition to the New York and Florida cases, Trump has also been charged in Washington and Georgia with trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election won by Democrat Joe Biden, his likely November opponent.

Originally published as Donald Trump scores major court win