Trump slams ‘deranged prosecutor’ Jack Smith and defends handling of classified information on the day his aide Walt Nauta appears in court and judge signals that she may delay his documents trial into 2024

Former President Donald Trump went on the offensive Tuesday night, berating the “deranged prosecutor” who is threatening a new set of charges related to the 2020 election and who has already charged him with handling classified documents.

It came as the federal judge overseeing the Florida documents case indicated she could delay the trial until 2024 after hearing from the former president’s attorneys that they needed more time to prepare for such complex court proceedings. .

Judge Aileen Cannon told Trump’s team to set a concrete timeline for her, but added that she understood they needed more time to review evidence.

She also questioned prosecutors why they were pushing for a speedy trial.

She ended the hearing at the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida, by saying she would file a written warrant at a later date.

Special counsel Jack Smith has already charged Trump in the documents case. On Tuesday, Trump revealed he feared charges in a case related to the 2020 election

For his part, Trump spent the day dealing with his legal woes.

Earlier, he revealed he feared arrest and charges in another case being prosecuted by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

And in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, he went on a rampage against Smith, who also led the documentary investigation.

“This man is a deranged prosecutor who has had massive busts all over,” he said. “He’s that nasty, horrible human being.

“They’re coming after me.”

Returning to court on Tuesday, Trump and his aide Walt Nauta pleaded not guilty to a 38-count indictment that charged them with conspiracy to conceal classified documents from investigators.

Some of the files were recovered during an FBI search of Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago.

However, Trump is furious that President Joe Biden has not been treated the same way, even though government files have been found in his office and home.

Trump aide Walt Nauta returned to court Tuesday for the Florida hearing

Trump himself appeared in federal court in Miami last month to plead not guilty

Legal experts have pointed out that Biden, like former Vice President Mike Pence, returned any documents accidentally withheld once their presence was discovered.

But Trump told Hannity it was a case of double standards.

“It was a big story for about a day and then you don’t hear about it again,” he said of the documents found at Biden’s home.

‘It’s unbelievable. But if you look at the documents everywhere, what happened to that document?’

He also pointed out that Biden’s documents were reportedly kept in a storage facility in Washington’s Chinatown.

“And perhaps worst of all, he has documents in Chinatown, in Chinatown, lots and lots of documents, boxes of documents,” he said. ‘You never hear about this. You only hear about Trump and I’m fully covered by the Presidential Records Act.”

Trump leaves after visiting the Elks Lodge in Cedar Rapids, Iowa with campaign volunteers

Tuesday brought a fresh twist to things against Trump. He revealed that he had received a letter from the Justice Department saying he was a target of the Jan. 6 investigation, which detailed the violence at the Capitol and his attempts to stay in power.

Such letters are generally an indication that the target will be charged.

“The deranged Jack Smith, the DA of Joe Biden’s DOJ, sent a letter… stating that I am a target of the Jan. 6 grand jury investigation, and gave me a very short 4 days to report to the grand jury, which almost always results in an arrest and an indictment,” he posted on his Truth Social site.

Once again, the former president managed to blow up the news cycle and his rivals’ plans for 2024 by revealing the latest legal twist himself.

He added in all caps, “This witch hunt is all about election interference and a full and total political arming of law enforcement.”