- Judge sets May 20 trial date, splitting the difference between prosecutors who wanted to start in December and defense lawyer who wanted to wait until after the 2024 election.
- The judge said the date would allow Trump’s lawyers to review ‘exceedingly voluminous’ evidence in the case.
Donald Trump’s litigation calendar just got a little more crowded − and his political calendar a little more complicated − after a federal judge on Friday scheduled his trial in the classified documents case to begin May 20.
“The Court finds that the interests of justice served by this continuance outweigh the best interest of the public and Defendants in a speedy trial,” U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon wrote Friday.
The trial could be delayed again, depending on disputes over issues such as what evidence will be allowed at trial. Trump’s lawyers have said they will be making novel legal arguments that judges have not previously decided.
Here are three takeaways about what the decision means for Trump’s schedule:
Documents trial set after primaries, but in heat of presidential campaign
Cannon’s tentative schedule − she put the caveat “at this juncture” in her order − puts the national-security case in the middle of the presidential primaries.
Trump continues to lead polls for the Republican nomination despite his legal cases. While the nomination should be decided by May 20, states that have primaries after that date include Kentucky, Oregon, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota.
Trump raises campaign contributions and rallies his supporters based on fighting criminal cases that he contends are politically motivated to prevent him from opposing President Joe Biden.
But debates about evidence and the trial itself could potentially hurt his standing among voters. Even if the GOP nomination is settled, Trump could become the nominee and the trial could hurt his standing in the general election.
Trump’s lawyers have argued it isn’t possible for him to get a fair trial during the campaign. They’ve also argued the campaign will keep him and hs personal valet, co-defendant Walt Nauta, too busy to prepare for a trial.
“It is intellectually dishonest to say this case is like any other case,” Trump lawyer Todd Blanche said Wednesday. “It is not.”
But government lawyers said plenty of criminal defendants have busy schedules.
“He should be treated like everyone else,” assistant special counsel David Harbach said Wednesday.
More: Cases threaten to engulf TrumpAnother federal indictment threatens to engulf Donald Trump and his presidential campaign
Judge Aileen Cannon splits difference between prosecution, defense
Cannon’s oversight of the case has been scrutinized because she is a Trump appointee who ruled favorably toward him during the investigation of the documents at Mar-a-Lago.
FBI agents seized hundreds of classified records at Mar-a-Lago during an August 2022 search, more than a year and a half after Trump left the White House. Trump was indicted on 37 counts including willful retention of national defense information under the Espionage Act, conspiracy to obstruct justice and concealing documents. Trump’s personal valet, Walt Nauta, was also charged in the case and has also pleaded not guilty.
Cannon ordered a special master to review the documents for possible possible restrictions under attorney-client or executive privilege before federal investigators could use them. But the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned her order, ruling that Cannon couldn’t allow the subject of a search warrant to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant.
In the debate Wednesday over the timing of the trial, prosecutors said a December start would give Trump and his lawyers time to review the evidence. But Trump’s lawyers argued the case should be postponed until after the 2024 because he couldn’t get a fair trial while campaigning for the White House.
“We need to set a timetable,” Cannon said Wednesday. “Some deadlines can be established now.”
She ruled Friday that a December start proposed by prosecutors would be too soon for Trump and his lawyers to review “exceedingly voluminous” evidence, including 340 classified documents totaling 1,545 pages in the case.
Documents case scheduled after New York civil and criminal cases
Trump already faces a handful of other trials and pending investigations by federal and Georgia prosecutors:
◾ A New York civil trial against Trump’s namesake company is scheduled in October.
◾ E. Jean Carroll, who won a $5 million defamation judgment against Trump in May, has a second trial for statements against her made while he was president. The trial is scheduled to start on Jan. 15, the date of the Iowa presidential caucuses.
◾ A New York criminal trial looms in March on charges Trump falsified business records to pay a woman to remain silent before the 2020 election about her claim she had sex with him.
In addition, Smith and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in Georgia are investigating Trump for possible election fraud in 2020. Trump announced Tuesday that Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith named him a target in the federal investigation.
