Jeffrey Clark attorney files motion objecting to proposed trial date; calls it ‘highly premature’

An attorney representing Jeffrey Clark in the Georgia case against former President Trump is requesting the trial date be pushed back.

Clark, a former Justice Department official, was named as one of the 18 codefendants in the ongoing Georgia racketeering case.

His attorney, Harry MacDougald, wrote in a court filing Thursday that District Attorney Fani Willis’ rushed schedule for the trial “could be interpreted as an attempt to stake out a place at the head of the line of prosecutors seeking the ‘prize’ of trying the former President before the 2024 presidential election.”

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Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division Jeffrey Clark speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. ( AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)

Willis held a press conference late Monday after a Fulton County grand jury handed up charges, saying that she would like a trial to take place within six months.

In the indictment, the Fulton County district attorney gave Trump and the other 18 codefendants until noon on Aug. 25 to surrender to law enforcement.

“To our knowledge, not one of the 19 defendants named in the indictment has been served with any warrant, taken into custody, had a first appearance, or been arraigned, or waived arraignment,” MacDougald wrote in the Thursday objection.

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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks in the Fulton County Government Center during a news conference in Atlanta. Former President Trump and several allies have been indicted in Georgia over efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

“Since the District Attorney’s Office made no attempt to confer with opposing counsel for any of the 19 Defendants before filing its Motion, it has no earthly idea whether any of the proposed dates fit the calendars of any, much less all of the dozens of busy attorneys who will be involved in representing the Defendants,” the objection continued.

Clark is charged with one count of racketeering and one count of criminal attempt to commit false statements.

Trump’s lawyers are also seeking to suspend the trial date, pushing to delay the case until April 2026.

Former President Trump delivers remarks at Windham High School in New Hampshire. (Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

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The suggested date would be years after the Justice Department’s recommendation that the trial begin Jan. 2, 2024.

In a filing, Trump’s lawyers say the years-long delay is necessary both because of the unprecedented nature of the case and the “massive” amount of information — 11.5 million pages — that they have to review. They said they would have to review about 100,000 pages per day in order to meet the Justice Department’s proposed trial date.