Former President Donald Trump’s legal team requested that his federal trial related to the aftermath of the 2020 election be pushed back until after the next election. The proposed April 2026 date could have a significant impact on both the election and the possible outcome of the case.
Trump’s legal team challenged special counsel Jack Smith’s recommendation to start the trial in January 2024, right before the Iowa caucus.
Trump’s legal team wrote that the federal government included more than 11.5 million pages of potential evidence, to which the former president’s attorneys state that “when faced with such overwhelming discovery is to set a reasonable trial schedule, commensurate with the size and scope of discovery and complexity of the legal issues.”
The attorneys wrote that Smith’s prosecutors rejected such a “sensible approach.”
“Instead, it seeks a trial calendar more rapid than most no-document misdemeanors, requesting just four months from the beginning of discovery to jury selection,” Trump’s attorneys wrote. “The government’s objective is clear: to deny President Trump and his counsel a fair ability to prepare for trial. The Court should deny the government’s request.”
Compare Trump’s trial dates to GOP primary dates 👇
Seems pretty clear Dems are using the trials to boost Trump through the primary pic.twitter.com/ZcbU6GQsgJ
— John Hasson (@SonofHas) August 16, 2023
After Smith announced the proposed trial date last week, the former president wrote online that only “an out of touch lunatic would ask for such a date, ONE DAY into the New Year, and maximum Election Interference with IOWA.” Trump further wrote that such a trial “should only happen, if at all, AFTER THE ELECTION.”
He called the prosecution “ELECTION INTERFERENCE!”
The special counsel wrote in his court filing that the proposed January date “would vindicate the public’s strong interest in a speedy trial.”
Smith also argued that such a date would protect Trump’s “rights and ability to prepare for trial.”
The special counsel wrote that such a speedy trial would be possible, citing a number of other cases, including against former Trump advisor Paul Manafort and against more than 1,000 Jan. 6, 2021 protesters.
The court has not indicated whether or not it would accept the Trump legal team’s request.
