Miami (EFE) – Judge Aileen Cannon established that the trial of former US President Donald Trump (2017-2021) for the classified documents found in his Florida home begins on May 20, 2024, that is, when there will be just over 6 months left for the presidential elections in this country.
Trump is a candidate for the Republican nomination with a view to being the one who faces current President Joe Biden at the polls in the November 2024 general elections and his defense had asked Cannon to postpone it without a date until after that electoral appointment.
In a judicial document incorporated this Friday into the summary of the case, Judge Cannon also ordered that a hearing be held on May 14, 2024 to discuss the calendar and other details of the trial, which was initially scheduled to begin on August 14.
The Prosecutor’s Office had asked to delay it until December 11 and also asked Judge Cannon not to accept the defense’s proposal to leave the trial for once the electoral process was finished.
The campaign, a key factor in the trial of Trump
Several press commentators pointed out that if Trump were to win the 2024 election without the trial having yet taken place, he could move to quash the trial.
The trial will be held in the federal courts of Fort Pierce, a city about 200 kilometers north of Miami where Cannon exercises her position as a judge, for which she was precisely nominated by Trump in 2020, when he was president.
Along with Trump, Waltine Nauta, who was his assistant in the White House and was in the service of the former president when he left the White House in January 2021, will sit in the dock.
Both, who pleaded not guilty before Judge Cannon, are charged with withholding and concealment of classified documents, in addition to other related crimes, which are punishable by jail time.
Another case in sight
Trump now faces another possible criminal prosecution for crimes related to the capture of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 by a mob of his supporters who wanted to prevent the certification of the victory of today’s President Joe Biden after the 2020 elections.
Special counsel Jack Smith informed Trump by letter that he is the subject of an investigation for that reason that is being carried out by a grand jury meeting in Washington.
Trump claims to be a victim of the “instrumentalization” of the judiciary by the Biden government to prevent him from reaching the White House again.