Trump lawyers agree to delay pretrial conference in classified documents case

MIAMI (AP) — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump say they agreed with federal prosecutors to delay to next week a pretrial hearing to discuss how classified information is handled in court as he faces federal charges that he illegally hoarded classifed documents at his Florida estate.

The hearing to discuss the Classified Information Procedures Act had previously been set for Friday. But an attorney for Trump's valet Walt Nauta, who was charged alongside the former president, said he has another bench trial this week in Washington preventing him from appearing Friday in South Florida.

The attorneys said in their filing that they can appear at the pretrial conference to go over the 1980 law on July 18, adding they had also checked with U.S. attorneys on moving the date.

The judge in the case, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, still needs to agree to the new date.

Trump and Nauta were charged in a 38-count indictment with conspiring to hide classified documents at Mar-a-Lago from federal investigators. Both men have pleaded not guilty.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has slammed the prosecution as an effort to hurt his bid to reclaim the White House in 2024.