The judge presiding over former President Donald Trump‘s classified documents case on Friday set a May 20 date for the trial, which Trump’s attorneys estimate could last up to two months.
United States District Judge Aileen Cannon‘s Friday order marks a middle-ground choice between a start time request by special counsel Jack Smith in early December and Trump’s request to push the trial until after the election.
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“The Government’s Motion to Continue Trial and Revised Proposed Schedule 34 is GRANTED IN PART,” Cannon wrote in a docket order filed on Friday. She set the trial date for Monday, May 20, 2024, with a 9:30 a.m. start time.
The trial will take place in Fort Pierce, Florida, just under five months ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Trump faces 37 counts, including more than 30 violations of the Espionage Act, over allegations of withholding documents related to national security. He’s also charged, along with aide Walt Nauta, with making false statements and conspiring to obstruct justice. Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Attorneys for Trump, the GOP presidential front-runner, requested the trial take place post-election, citing Trump’s busy campaign schedule while juggling several other lawsuits and two criminal indictments. They also contended that a fair jury would be impossible to establish prior to the election.
Cannon, an appointee of the former president, was told by Trump attorney Todd Blanche during a procedural hearing on Tuesday that his client deserved special consideration, according to multiple reports.
“It is intellectually dishonest to stand up in front of this court and say this case is like any other,” Blanche said. “It is not.”
In her order, Cannon said Smith’s proposed trial start date of Dec. 11 was “atypically accelerated and inconsistent with ensuring a fair trial,” citing the high volume of discovery anticipated in the case.
Still, Cannon weighed what she described as “the public’s interest in a speedy trial” in declining to push the trial past the presidential election. While she agreed with some of Trump’s attorneys’ justifications for their requested post-election start date, she rejected the notion that impartial jurors would be impossible to select.
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A spokesman for Trump characterized the order as a victory for the former president and a “major setback” for the Justice Department.
“The extensive schedule allows President Trump and his legal team to continue fighting this empty hoax,” the spokesman said. “Crooked Joe Biden is losing and attempting to use his weaponized DOJ against his top political rival — a disgraceful and un-American abuse of power. Crooked Joe will fail and President Trump will win back the White House for the American people.”
