During the 2023 Iowa State Fair, former President Donald Trump engaged with the press at the Iowa Pork Producers booth. The event took place on August 12, 2023.
Source: Demetrius Freeman | The Washington Post | Getty Images
A trial date has been set for former President Donald Trump’s criminal election interference case. The trial is scheduled to begin on March 4, 2024, in Washington, D.C., which is seven months before the 2024 general election.
Trump expressed his intention to appeal the decision and criticized the judge on social media.
In a furious social media post on Monday, Trump wrote, “Today a biased, Trump Hating Judge gave me only a two-month extension, just what our corrupt government wanted. I will APPEAL!”
Judge Tanya Chutkan made her ruling after rejecting trial schedules proposed by both Trump’s attorneys and special counsel Jack Smith’s federal prosecutors.
Chutkan stated that the Department of Justice’s suggestion to start the trial on January 2 does not allow enough time for Trump to prepare. She also deemed Trump’s proposal for an April 2026 trial date excessive.
The jury selection process for the D.C. case is currently set to commence on Super Tuesday, the most significant day of elections in the presidential primary cycle.
Trump’s attorney, John Lauro, objected to the trial schedule, claiming that it violates Trump’s right to due process and effective assistance of counsel. The judge acknowledged his objection before proceeding.
Although Trump was not required to attend the hearing, he expressed his dissatisfaction with Judge Chutkan and Special Counsel Smith on Truth Social, a platform he used for his post-hearing remarks.
Trump’s post appeared to reference a recent report alleging that a member of Smith’s team had met with a White House official prior to seeking indictments. Trump reiterated his belief that his legal issues are part of a conspiracy to undermine his 2024 campaign.
He wrote, “Today a biased, Trump Hating Judge gave me only a two-month extension, just what our corrupt government wanted, SUPER TUESDAY,” while pledging to appeal the ruling.
Earlier this month, the former president pleaded not guilty to the four-count indictment accusing him of illegally conspiring to overturn his loss to President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
Trump, who is a leading Republican presidential candidate facing multiple criminal cases, has attempted to delay his trials until after the November 2024 election. However, trial dates have already been set in two of his cases, starting in 2024.
Judge Chutkan revealed that she had communicated with the New York judge overseeing Trump’s case, which is also slated for trial in March.
Fani Willis, the Atlanta prosecutor who has charged Trump with 13 felonies related to his effort to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia, requested that Trump’s trial be scheduled on the same day as the D.C. trial, March 4. There has been no immediate response from Willis’s spokesperson regarding Chutkan’s order.
Smith, who is leading Trump’s prosecution in the federal cases, argued earlier this month that a January 2 trial date in the D.C. case would serve the public’s strong interest in a speedy trial. Trump’s attorneys countered by stating that they require an extensive amount of time to review the millions of pages of potential evidence, proposing a trial date over two-and-a-half years later.
Trump criticized the special counsel for requesting a trial date that would likely overlap with the Iowa caucuses scheduled for January 15.
During the hearing, defense attorney Lauro argued that it was an “outrage of justice” for the government to seek such a quick trial date. Judge Chutkan responded by urging everyone to calm down.
The special counsel previously accused Trump’s lawyers of exaggerating the amount of evidence they need to review, including dramatizing the size of the discovery material. Lauro maintained that the task of preparing for a case with such extensive discovery is “enormous” and “overwhelming,” asserting that they cannot be ready within a shorter timeframe than the one proposed.
However, Judge Chutkan remained unconvinced and questioned why they would need such extensive time. She noted that a significant portion of the discovery is duplicative and highlighted that Trump’s attorneys had been aware of the impending indictment for quite some time.
Lauro reiterated that the defense team will have to handle a massive amount of facts and emphasized that Trump is not above the law but also not below it.
The hearing also addressed the federal procedures for handling a small amount of classified information identified in the case.
As of now, Trump is leading in the polls among Republican presidential primary candidates. He has repeatedly claimed to be the victim of “election interference,” which is essentially what he is accused of in the D.C. case and the state-level criminal case in Georgia.
Additionally, Trump faces federal criminal charges in Florida related to his handling of classified records after leaving office in early 2021. That trial is set for May, and Trump has pleaded not guilty to the 40 felony counts brought against him.
— Contributed by CNBC’s Dan Mangan.
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