Donald Trump’s federal trial on charges related to the classified documents seized at his Mar-a-Lago estate is scheduled Aug. 14, the judge announced Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s order also told Department of Justice prosecutors and lawyers for Trump to file all pre-trial motions by July 24. The brisk schedule would place the first federal criminal trial of a former president months ahead of his New York state trial in March 2024.
Arguments about evidence and what can be debated at trial can often postpone initial trial dates. Trump, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was indicted earlier this month on 37 criminal counts and pleaded not guilty to all charges related to his taking hundreds of classified records with him when he left the White House in January 2021. Special counsel Jack Smith is leading the prosecution of the case.
Carl Tobias, a federal trial expert at University of Richmond School of Law, told USA TODAY he didn’t think the Aug. 14 date was “realistic” for several reasons.
“Judge Cannon deserves credit for attempting to expedite the trial and for being responsive to Jack Smith’s request for a speedy trial,” Tobias said. “But Trump and his counsel will do everything possible to delay the trial as long as possible.”
Trump’s co-defendant Waltine “Walt” Nauta is scheduled to be arraigned on June 27. Cannon said in a footnote to her order that an order setting Nauta’s trial will follow. It could not be determined immediately if Cannon intends for the two men to be tried separately, or if Nauta’s lawyer has asked for such a separation. Currently, Nauta continues to serve as a personal assistant, or “body man,” to Trump and attends to his daily needs as Trump ramps up his presidential campaign.
Cannon’s trial date order follows another judge’s order on Monday that prohibits Trump and Nauta, his former White House valet, from viewing discovery evidence in the case without a lawyer present. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart’s protective order also prevents the two men from sharing discovery − or potentially exculpatory information provided by the government − with the public or the media.
Both men appeared in federal court in Miami last Tuesday. Nauta was given permission to get a second attorney on his legal team before entering a plea.
Cannon’s order also follows Trump’s interview with Fox News Monday evening in which the former president offered a new explanation as to why he didn’t return classified documents he took with him from the White House. Trump told Fox News’ chief political anchor Bret Baier on his show Special Report that he was “very busy” and didn’t have time to separate them from his personal belongings.
National Archives and Records Administration, which preserves government records, repeatedly asked Trump to turn over the documents.
Asked why he didn’t simply return the bankers boxes full of documents after the National Archives and Justice Department moved to subpoena him, Trump said, “Because I had boxes, I wanted to go through the boxes and get all of my personal things out. I don’t want to hand that over to NARA yet. And I was very busy, as you’ve sort of seen.”
