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The lawyers, Chris Kise and Todd Blanche, began to lay the seeds for arguments they'll make to combat the indictment, including whether Trump can have an impartial jury seated https://t.co/BnrQmYLoXj

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) July 11, 2023

Wait a minute….

Trump jurors will be selected from one of 'the most brightly red corners' of Florida: reporthttps://t.co/YVzFkls4Qk

— Raw Story (@RawStory) July 11, 2023

A reminder that the court does require arguments before it be made in good faith. And laying seeds for arguments to be reported in the NYT is not the same as making arguments in court. In the cliched metaphor for writing, it’s the difference between the lightning (the latter), and the lightning bug (the former).

Judge Aileen Cannon grants 'unnecessary' delay in Trump documents casehttps://t.co/HI6j8PxIK3

— Raw Story (@RawStory) July 11, 2023

And that headlines do not tell the story.

In a filing on Monday, Nauta's team asked to delay Friday's hearing, which was set to determine how some materials would be handled in the trial. The attorneys did not propose a date for the new hearing. 

"An indefinite continuance is unnecessary, will inject additional delay in this case, and is contrary to the public interest," special counsel Jack Smith said in a subsequent filing on Monday. 

On Tuesday, Cannon granted a 4-day delay, setting the new hearing for July 18 at 2:00 P.M. A court filing said Trump and Smith had agreed to the new date.

Which is to say: beware of legal analysis not made by a court opinion (and even then…):

The speedy trial right lies with the accused, who in this case is explicit that he doesn't want one https://t.co/BnrQmYLoXj

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) July 11, 2023

The 6th Amendment does guarantee the defendant the right to speedy trial, but that does not put the defendant in charge of the court’s docket. Otherwise no defendant would ever go to trial (yes, that’s a common sense argument, not a legal one). And I’m not the only one noticing that:

Criminal defendants in court today: Apologies, Your Honor, but I am far too busy to be prosecuted right now. I’m going to have to ask you to indefinitely postpone my trial.

— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) July 11, 2023

I still wonder if Trump’s lawyers are possibly this stupid:

'I’m too busy to be prosecuted': Legal experts mock Trump request for indefinite suspension of trialhttps://t.co/pUXfMGSCTx

— Raw Story (@RawStory) July 11, 2023

Trump’s attorneys also suggest they intend “to challenge some of the charges he is facing by arguing that the Presidential Records Act permitted Mr. Trump to take documents with him from the White House,” The Times reports. They also “suggested that they might raise ‘constitutional and statutory challenges’ to Mr. Smith’s authority as special counsel.”

Because even if they put that before Cannon and she allows it, the 11th Circuit won’t let it stand. (In fact, I wonder if they told this to the NYT just to appease Trump.) Challenges to Smith’s authority have already lost in the D.C. Circuit. I doubt the 11th will be contrary to that.

Pay attention to what happens in court; not to what pleadings say or what lawyers say (especially outside of court). And ignore all predictions of the future. Nobody knows what’s going on there.