Former President Donald Trump is seeking a delay in his upcoming criminal trial in New York to avoid facing a jury over more serious federal charges in Florida. Trump's lawyers submitted a filing on Saturday, requesting US District Judge Aileen Cannon to push back the May deadline for reviewing classified evidence in the criminal case related to his alleged mishandling of classified information at Mar-a-Lago.

According to Trump's legal team, the former president cannot meet the deadline due to his trial for state charges in Manhattan. This trial, focused on allegations of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments made to an adult film star before the 2016 election, could potentially extend into June. Trump's primary defense lawyers, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, explained that they cannot be present in both trials simultaneously, emphasizing Trump's constitutional right to be present at his trial in New York.

As the trial in Manhattan begins on Monday, work on the Mar-a-Lago documents case will almost completely halt. The classified documents case has already faced delays in Florida federal court, and Trump's defense team has significantly reduced their time spent on the criminal case over the past six weeks. Judge Cannon, overseeing the case, has yet to set a trial date and has a backlog of unresolved legal disputes.

Additionally, the sensitive nature of the information involved in the case makes it challenging for attorneys to continue their work outside of Florida. The next phase of their preparations requires extensive discussions between Trump and his legal team in a secure facility in remote Fort Pierce, Florida.

Trump's attorneys stated in their filing that meeting the deadline for evidence review would require lengthy classified submissions and extensive time in a secure facility (SCIF) to prepare and discuss those submissions, which they claim Trump and his attorneys simply do not have during the trial in New York.

Meanwhile, federal prosecutors from the special counsel's office argue that Trump's team should be prepared to present their arguments over classified records in the defense case. They assert that Trump's legal team has had the classified discovery for months and are well-versed in the materials, adding that these documents are crucial in shaping how the case will be presented at trial.

Despite Trump's request for a delay, the special counsel's office has indicated that they do not agree with pushing back the deadlines. The trial proceedings in both New York and Florida will shed further light on the legal challenges faced by the former president.

As the cases proceed in separate jurisdictions, the clash of court schedules necessitates decisions to prioritize one trial over the other, highlighting the complexity of legal battles involving high-profile figures.