Lawyers for former President and current 2024 GOP frontrunner Donald Trump have filed a number of motions to delay cases against him that could push some or all of them out beyond the November 2024 election.

In at least two of the cases, Trump attornies have asked for delays beyond the election--one as far out as 2026.

In others, he seeks incremental delays that could have the same result--no trial until after the election, and maybe never if Trump is put back into office at that time.

While prosecutors decry the requests as unjustified delay tactics, they express legitimate concerns about Trump seeing all the evidence against him in a timely manner and being able to form the best possible defense.

Classified information problems

In the classified documents case, judges and prosecutors are trying to decide how to make the classified information public without compromising the information. Redacting takes time, and there have been delays in getting discovery materials to Trump's legal team.

Another source of delays is the reality that Trump cannot be at two trials at once. Prosecutors are going to have to take turns, which means a lot of jockeying for position and the potential for more delays.

“This is sort of an incremental strategy; you don’t expect to win all at once,” Ankush Khardori, a former federal prosecutor, said about Trump's efforts so far. “Over time, the aggregate effect can be to push things out.”

It may be that Democrats come to regret the aggressiveness and pettiness with which they have gone after Trump, if it backfires on them by allowing him to delay many of the proceedings.

Level playing field?

Facing four indictments at the same time would be tricky for anyone, let alone a presidential campaign on top of it.

But let's face it, that's exactly why he's under four indictments. That might put him on a level playing field with President Dementia, his likely opponent if he lives that long.

His delay tactics are perfectly justified in the context of the unfairness and triviality of those indictments. In most cases, liberal juries indicted the ham sandwich, and now prosecutors see the chance to interfere with the election in a myriad of ways.

If Trump manages to delay all of the trials beyond the election, and he does get elected, he will have ways to shutter the cases, including pardoning himself even before a trial.

This prospect is tying Democrats in knots, but what's good for the goose (indicting a former president on specious charges) is good for the gander (shutting down the specious prosecutions).

Democrats have in no way succeeded in neutralizing Trump, and the battle to do so is far from over.