Across the dial, the network evening newscasts closed their coverage of the Trump business records trial in New York with coverage of another matter- the classified documents trial in Florida federal court. Specifically, a collective mourning over the fact that this trial won’t go before the 2024 presidential election.
Most emblematic of the coverage: ABC, with its lengthy (for a brief) anchor introduction and framing question. Watch the full report as aired on ABC World News Tonight on Tuesday, May 7th, 2024:
DAVID MUIR: And meanwhile, there's another breaking headline involving the former president tonight. The judge overseeing Donald Trump's classified documents case at Mar-a-Lago has now indefinitely postponed that trial. Is there any chance this now happens before Election Day? Let's get right to our Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas, live in Washington. Pierre, what have you learned?
PIERRE THOMAS: David, the likelihood there will be a trial in the classified documents case before the election is fading fast. Judge Aileen Cannon has officially taken a May 20th trial date off the calendar, saying there were too many pretrial motions and legal issues to resolve before trial could go forward. Some of the issues have sat for months, and some are not even scheduled for hearings until later this month or June. The special counsel tonight declining to comment. But David, this delay makes it all but certain the classified documents case will not go to trial before the election.
MUIR: Pierre Thomas tonight with us as well. Pierre, thank you.
ABC Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas felt compelled to provide a full rundown as to the procedural reasons why the classified documents trial isn’t going forward, complaining that “some of the issues have sat for months”. Thomas then whines that this case will not go to trial before the election.
A similar tone was struck at CBS, as far as whining over a lack of a trial before the general election. Below is the transcript of the full report as aired on CBS Evening News on Tuesday, May 7th, 2024:
NORAH O’DONNELL: And Robert, I do need to ask you about a separate trial involving that classified documents. What have we learned today about that trial?
ROBERT COSTA: Norah, a stunning development late today. Florida federal judge Aileen Cannon has now decided to indefinitely postpone that classified documents trial that was looming on the horizon for the former president, raising a real question about whether Trump will ever face a trial on that front before the election, or even this year.
O’DONNELL: Robert Costa, thank you.
Despite Costa’s hysterics, the development is not all that stunning. Not mentioned in these reports is that at least some of the hangup in the classified documents case is due to the procedures governing discovery under the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA), which governs discovery in this trial. Costa might not have been so stunned, perhaps, had he read CBS’s own primer on CIPA.
Fun fact, per the report: the CIPA bill was originally introduced by Senator Joe Biden.
Finally, on NBC, the same lamentations citing the same complex motions, with one added bonus: Lester Holt and Laura Jarrett work in the January 6th trial, which is also on hold pending the Supreme Court’s opinion on presidential immunity. Below is the transcript of the full report as aired on NBC Nightly News on Tuesday, May 7th, 2024:
LESTER HOLT: And Laura, at the top of the newscast, I mentioned a big development in another Trump case, this, the classified documents case in Florida. What happened?
LAURA JARRETT: Yes, Lester, the judge tonight making official what was already widely expected, putting that trial date officially on hold, wiping it away, saying essentially there are too many unresolved issues and complex motions left to resolve here, Lester.
HOLT: And one more federal case, the one focusing on election interference. Where does that stand?
JARRETT: Lester, that one too also in limbo, with no trial date as we await a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court about whether the former president is in fact immune from prosecution at all, making this case in New York, Lester, perhaps the only case that will be complete before the November election. Lester.
HOLT: All right. Laura Jarrett, thanks.
Laura Jarrett closes her report by noting that the New York trial may well be the only one to conclude before the 2024 presidential election, thus forcing the left to settle for one quarter of its originally-scheduled judicial election interference- much to the chagrin of the Regime Media.
