New York Attorney General Letitia James said that her lawsuit and other state criminal cases against Donald Trump could be delayed by the Department of Justice’s prosecution against the former president.
The Democrat attorney general, in an interview with Pod Save America, responded to a question about whether the federal case will tie in with James’s investigation or Manhattan District Attorney Bragg’s case. Trump was indicted on federal charges in Florida last week for allegedly mishandling classified documents, and he entered a not guilty plea in a Miami courthouse on Tuesday.
“In all likelihood, I believe that my case as well as DA Bragg and the Georgia case, will unfortunately have to be adjourned pending the outcome of the federal case,” James said. “So it all depends upon the scheduling of this particular case. I know there’s gonna be a flood, a flurry of motions, motion to dismiss, discovery issues, all of that. So it really all depends. Obviously, all of us want to know what Judge [Aileen] Cannon is going to do and whether or not she’s going to delay this particular case.”
James, however, did not provide any other details. The Epoch Times has contacted the Department of Justice for comment.
But Pete Skandalakis, director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, suggested that the federal classified documents case wouldn’t disrupt the scheduling of other cases, including the Fulton County one. His research shows that there is “no law that gives the federal government the ability to go first,” he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Trump was previously indicted by Bragg this year on charges that he allegedly falsified business records over payments made during the 2016 election. At the same time, prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, are investigating the former president for potential interference in the 2020 election in Georgia, with District Attorney Fani Willis saying that the former president could be indicted in August.
James’s $250 million lawsuit alleges that Trump inflated his assets to secure favorable loans that he shouldn’t have been entitled to. He’s scheduled to go on trial in that case in October, while the trial in Bragg’s case is slated for next March.
In the federal case, Trump faces 31 alleged violations of the federal Espionage Act for “willful retention” of national defense information along with multiple counts of obstruction of justice and false statements. Trump entered a not guilty plea to the 37 charges.
Trump has categorically denied wrongdoing, asserting that he is being targeted by a Democrat-led witch hunt amid his 2024 presidential campaign. Early polls show that Trump is far ahead of other GOP presidential candidates so far.
“They’re using this because they can’t win the election fairly and squarely,” Trump told Americano Media on Monday.
For the DOJ’s case, Trump has said he’s looking to add to his legal team though no announcements were made Monday. He was expected to be represented at his arraignment by Todd Blanche, an attorney also defending him in the New York case, and Florida lawyer Chris Kise, who joined Trump’s stable of attorneys last year. Under the rules of the district, defendants are required to have a local lawyer for an arraignment to proceed.
The indictment alleges Trump intentionally retained hundreds of classified documents that he took with him from the White House to Mar-a-Lago after leaving office in January 2021. The material he stored, including in a bathroom, ballroom, bedroom, and shower; included material on nuclear programs, defense and weapons capabilities of the U.S. and foreign governments, and a Pentagon “attack plan,” prosecutors say.
Reporters in the Miami courtroom said that special prosecutor Jack Smith was in the courthouse on Tuesday. He was named as the special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland last year following the FBI’s raid targeting Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach.
Trump, meanwhile, and fellow defendant Walt Nauta were released on their own recognizance by Judge Jonathan Goodman, who oversaw the arraignment. The judge did not issue any restrictions on travel for either Trump or Nauta.
Goodman instead issued a limited contact order for both Nauta—an aide to Trump who is being charged in the documents case—and Trump.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
