U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has set a tentative date of August 14th for Donald Trump’s trial in the classified documents case, per a scheduling order.
All hearings are scheduled to take place in Fort Pierce, Florida, instead of Miami, where Trump was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to 37 federal counts.
Trump classified documents trial tentatively date set for Aug. 14 https://t.co/V6h66Fi4o1
— Just the News (@JustTheNews) June 20, 2023
The Washington Examiner noted the trial date is set right before the first GOP presidential primary debate.
The trial date is set the week before the first Republican presidential debate on Aug. 23, 2023 in Milwaukee. The debate is set to be broadcast on Fox News Channel.
Trump leads the GOP primary field by a significant margin, per the RealClearPolitics polling average. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is in second place, with the other candidates far behind the two Florida men.
However, it’s very likely the trial could be delayed to a later date.
Just the News noted:
Cannon, a Trump appointee, said the trial could be delayed on the grounds of several factors, “the complexity of the case, … the security clearance process, and any anticipated impact of the Classified Information Procedures Act,” the latter of which deals with the process that classified materials are used at trial.
District Judge Aileen Cannon has set a tentative date of Aug. 14 for the start of former President Donald Trump's trial on charges of obstruction and mishandling classified documents, per a new scheduling order posted to her court docket Tuesday morning. https://t.co/CZczHKjQgl
— ABC News (@ABC) June 20, 2023
ABC News added:
The Aug. 14 start is not set in stone, however, and is likely to shift based on negotiations between Trump’s team, the Justice Department and Cannon as they navigate what is likely to be a very complex and contentious discovery process.
All pretrial motions must be filed by July 24, according to the order.
The order sets aside two weeks for the trial despite prosecutors previously signaling they would need three weeks to put on their evidence.
Trump was charged last week with 37 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials, with prosecutors saying he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information ranging from U.S. nuclear secrets to the nation’s defense capabilities.
Trump has denied all wrongdoing in the documents case and pushed back on the allegations in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier on Monday night.
Read the scheduling order below:
Join the conversation!
Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!