Federal prosecutors are requesting a July 8 trial for former President Donald Trump on charges that he illegally retained and concealed classified documents. Defense lawyers say no trial should be conducted this year but proposed August 12 as an alternative possibility.
Quick Read
- Federal prosecutors have requested a July 8 trial date for former President Donald Trump regarding charges related to the illegal retention and concealment of classified documents.
- Trump’s defense lawyers argue against holding a trial this year and have suggested August 12 as an alternative date if necessary.
- The current trial date is set for May 20, but it is expected to be revised during an upcoming hearing with Judge Aileen Cannon.
- The trial’s scheduling is complicated by a separate federal case in Washington and a pending Supreme Court decision on Trump’s immunity as a former president.
- Trump’s defense team is seeking to delay the criminal cases until after the November election, citing concerns over fair trial rights and the impact on Trump’s presidential campaign.
The Associated Press has the story:
Federal prosecutors seek July trial for Trump in classified docs case
Newslooks- WASHINGTON (AP) —
Federal prosecutors are requesting a July 8 trial for former President Donald Trump on charges that he illegally retained and concealed classified documents. Defense lawyers say no trial should be conducted this year but proposed August 12 as an alternative possibility.
The dueling proposals were submitted Thursday ahead of a pivotal hearing in Florida at which the judge in the case, Aileen Cannon, is expected to set a trial date. The trial is currently set for May 20, but Cannon indicated months ago that she expected to revisit that date during Friday’s hearing.
The trial date in the classified documents prosecution has taken on added significance in light of the uncertainty surrounding a separate federal case in Washington charging Trump with scheming to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The Supreme Court said this week that it would hear arguments in late April on whether Trump as a former president is immune from prosecution, leaving it unclear whether that case might reach trial before the November election.
In their motion, defense lawyers made clear to Cannon their strong preference to avoid a trial in the current year while Trump — who faces four separate state and federal prosecutions — is campaigning for the Republican nomination for president.
A key element of the Trump team strategy has been to seek to delay his criminal cases until after the election. If elected president, Trump could order the Justice Department to dismiss the federal cases or could seek to pardon himself.
“As the leading candidate in the 2024 election, President Trump strongly asserts that a fair trial cannot be conducted this year in a manner consistent with the Constitution, which affords President Trump a Sixth Amendment right to be present and to participate in these proceedings as well as…a First Amendment right that he shares with the American people to engage in campaign speech,” defense lawyers wrote.
But they proposed August 12 — weeks after the Republican National Convention — as a possible alternative trial date in the event Cannon seeks to move forward with a trial this year.
