Indeed, most of the debate among legal experts has revolved around whether a trial before the November 2024 presidential election is feasible. Trump has mounted a campaign to return to the White House and is vastly ahead of the field of candidates for the Republican presidential nomination.

Defense attorneys for Trump and his personal aide who is a co-defendant in the case, Walt Nauta, agree that the August trial date should be put off but disagree with the prosecution’s proposed schedule, according to the government’s filing.

An attorney for Trump declined to comment on the government’s proposal.

Last week, Trump pleaded not guilty to the historic charges: 31 felony counts of willful retention of national defense information and six counts of obstruction of justice.

Prosecutors told Cannon that the case isn’t complex by most measures, arguing that it “involves straightforward theories of liability, and does not present novel questions of fact or law.”

However, the government lawyers said the legal procedures surrounding the use of classified information in a criminal case require some delay.

“The case does involve classified information and will necessitate defense counsel obtaining the requisite security clearances,” Assistant Special Counsel David Harbach and other prosecutors wrote.

Cannon previously ordered defense attorneys to begin the process of seeking security clearances by this week. However, as of Friday, Nauta still had no attorney formally representing him in the case.

Prosecutor Jay Bratt, a counselor to Smith, said federal officials have “committed to significantly expediting” the security clearance process and should be able to grant interim clearances to the lawyers within 24 to 48 hours of receiving the proper paperwork.

However, Bratt said some classified information in the case is so sensitive that the lawyers will need full security clearances that are expected to take 45 to 60 days to grant.

Prosecutors proposed that Trump and Nauta submit any motions seeking to dismiss some or all charges in the case in about five weeks, by July 31. That could prove to be an aggressive timetable given some issues raised by the first federal criminal case against a former president.