In a development that has raised concerns among legal experts, the federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump to oversee his Florida documents case, Judge Aileen Cannon, has set up a likely delay of the trial, potentially leading to further legal complications.

According to a report by Politico, Judge Cannon scheduled the trial date for May next year, but her pacing of the pretrial process suggests that a postponement is almost inevitable. This delay could have significant implications, as it may allow Trump to shut down the case if he wins the November election. Even a shorter delay could push the trial into the heart of the general election campaign, possibly running up against the Republican National Convention next summer.

Last week, Judge Cannon postponed several pretrial deadlines, effectively making the May trial date unworkable. Legal experts have raised concerns about her motives, speculating that the postponement is a "stealth attempt" to delay the ultimate trial date without explicitly announcing it. Former CIA attorney Brian Greer expressed doubt, stating that the current schedule would make it nearly impossible to go to trial on May 20.

Moreover, prosecutors are likely to request special procedures at the trial, including potentially proposing the "silent witness rule" to admit evidence without exposing it fully in court. This rule allows witnesses to testify on classified issues while disguised or partially obscured. Such measures could face objections from Trump's team and the media, potentially placing special counsel Jack Smith's team in a difficult position. They would have to choose between making sensitive information public or abandoning part of the prosecution.

The scheduling issues surrounding the trial are further expected to contribute to the delay. Cannon has already suspended deadlines for motions related to classified information, and she took more than five weeks to hold a hearing on Trump's request for a new schedule. Her order subsequently pushed off the deadlines by almost 16 weeks, indicating a slow and methodical approach.

Efforts to expedite the process have been met with resistance from Judge Cannon, who expressed doubts about whether the work could be realistically accomplished within the compressed period of time. This reluctance to speed up the proceedings has left legal experts questioning the judge's impartiality in the handling of the case.

If delayed until after the election, the trial could present Trump with an opportunity to win and potentially appoint an attorney general inclined to drop the case or even pardon himself. Additionally, the unpredictable timeline of the trial creates complications for judges overseeing Trump's other cases in D.C., Atlanta, and New York City, making it difficult to schedule hearings and proceedings.

The situation has left many observers feeling uncertain and has sparked concerns about the potential for bias in Judge Cannon's rulings. The delayed trial and the looming possibility of further postponement have raised questions about the true timeline and outcome of Trump's Florida documents case.