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In yet another courtroom in yet another city, Donald Trump will star Friday in a new episode of the deepening drama over whether he will be tried for federal crimes before the November general election.
A Florida judge may set a new date for the ex-president’s trial over allegations of mishandling of classified documents, a move that will affect other criminal proceedings involving Trump’s crowded personal files. there is a possibility.
Special Counsel Jack Smith is asking Trump-appointed Judge Eileen Cannon to schedule the trial for July 8, which is certain to be postponed from its current start in late May. She hopes to have at least one court date finalized, but court dates are set. The choice would raise the political stakes, setting up a conflict with the Republican National Convention a week later, when the former president is expected to claim the Republican nomination for a third consecutive year.
Friday is another day when President Trump will be at the center of two important court cases at the same time. More than 550 miles northwest, in Atlanta, a different judge will hear closing arguments seeking to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis from Trump’s Georgia election interference case. Her exit could have a major impact on the timing and shape of the racketeering trial.
This double slice of court intrigue follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s announcement Wednesday that it will hear President Trump’s claim for blanket presidential immunity. The decision could move his currently delayed federal election destruction trial closer to or beyond 2024.
The constant setting and cancellation of court dates exemplifies the extraordinary failure of court cases intertwined with President Trump’s political campaign, making this election year one of the most contentious in history. Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
That something as simple as a calendar, rather than the fabled rituals of election season like primaries, conventions, and presidential debates, can mean more about voters’ choices in close elections. With some public opinion polls suggesting that this may be the case, this could be the deciding factor for the year. The president is a convicted felon by Election Day.
Trump, who has been a lifelong litigator, is trying to delay litigation by pushing the appeals process to its limits even before trial. President Trump’s legal and political fates are so intertwined that the timing of each trial will be key. Assuming Trump wins as the Republican nominee, a pre-election conviction could be disastrous for him in a close race against President Joe Biden. Exit polls in several states early in the Republican primary suggest that some voters would change their view of him if he was convicted by a jury. But if Mr. Trump is acquitted in the classified documents case before a supposedly friendly jury in Florida, it could add to the late-campaign momentum of an October surprise. And if some of the most controversial trials are postponed until after the election, the campaign’s central theme of being victims of political persecution could be overshadowed. Meanwhile, a victory in the November election would restore presidential powers to President Trump, potentially allowing him to block federal trials or overturn federal convictions.
Given the caseload and potential scheduling conflicts, President Trump’s legendary talent for avoiding accountability could once again protect him, at least temporarily, in the most potentially damaging trials. The possibility seems to be increasing. If so, the final verdict against Trump in 2024 could be decided by voters rather than a jury.
Wins and losses of President Trump’s legal roller coaster
This week, President Trump was able to celebrate some short-term victories, but there are also a few that show the depth of his vulnerability, especially if he loses the election and faces a harsh trial and penalties he can’t afford. It also absorbed legal blows. Relax presidential powers.
• Trump definitely got good news from the Supreme Court on his immunity case, at least for now.
• He is still waiting to hear whether the U.S. Supreme Court will reject the Colorado Supreme Court’s proposal to bar him from the 2024 ballot based on the Constitution’s “insurrectionist ban.”
• Georgia held that Willis’ claim that he benefited financially from his relationship with a fellow prosecutor, and that the relationship began before he was hired, did not disqualify him from the case. However, the hearing may have tarnished her image in a sense. That could help President Trump cast doubt on the prosecutor’s credibility and the jury’s unfavorable verdict.
• But it also reflects the extraordinary discomfort caused by President Trump’s legal predicament. He is desperately trying to come up with the $454 million he must post in bail money ahead of his appeal of the verdict in a New York civil fraud trial.
• In New York, prosecutors are also preparing to try Mr. Trump in late March in connection with hush-money payments to adult film stars. They want judges to issue gag orders to prevent them from disrespecting witnesses and court staff. President Trump is certain to claim that his political freedoms are being violated, that he is a victim of persecution by the Biden administration, and that he has nothing to do with this case or that it is a political crime. This will strengthen their claim that they are “dissidents.” Last week’s conservative conference.
President Trump is scheduled to appear at a hearing on the classified documents case in Fort Pierce, Florida, on Friday.
Cannon has been criticized by some outside experts for being slow to adjust schedules and resolve issues related to confidential materials, and for having to postpone the trial beyond the pre-set May date. ing. In his proposal for a July 8 start, Mr. Smith took a new stab at scheduling one of the trials in the summer, before the peak of election season. Cannon now needs to determine whether the parties have enough time to prepare and whether other pretrial motions and work can be completed.
Trump’s lawyers have argued that Trump should not be tried at all this year because of the election.
“As a front-runner in the 2024 election, President Trump has been adamant that a constitutionally fair trial cannot be held this year, and the Sixth Amendment does not allow him to do so. “This is a First Amendment right that the president shares with Americans who participate in campaign speeches,” Trump’s lawyers said. it said in a filing Thursday.
Trump’s lawyers have asked for an Aug. 12 start date if Cannon does not delay the trial until after the election.
After leaving office, the former president pleaded not guilty to dozens of charges related to the mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort. As with other lawsuits, his lawyers have filed multiple motions to dismiss the case, and if that goal is not achieved, the process could be delayed to the point that it will not be possible to get a trial before the election. be. They also reflect arguments by Trump’s team in the federal election case, which the Supreme Court is currently set to hear in April, that Trump is protected by presidential immunity. It is claimed that there is. Recent developments raise the possibility that Cannon wants to hear the outcome of a Supreme Court case on the issue, potentially delaying the trial further.
Court watchers want to know whether Mr. Cannon will set a firm trial date during the hearing, and if so, how closely he intends to do so with the election looming. For example, if she schedules a trial in August, the number of subsequent months that Smith hopes to devote to her federal interference lawsuit in Washington, pending the Supreme Court’s decision on Trump’s immunity claim. It could fill up a week.
Former Pentagon Special Counsel Ryan Goodman told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Thursday that if Smith can secure a July trial date in Florida, he could be sentenced in August or September. Told. “July 8 and whether Judge Cannon follows the Department of Justice will be key to the outcome,” Goodman said.
The Supreme Court’s decision to hear President Trump’s immunity appeal vindicates his strategy of delay. Even if the high court rules by late June, the federal election interference case is unlikely to begin until late summer at the earliest. Judge Tanya Chutkan will have to decide whether to press ahead in the final stages of the election, when President Trump is expected to spend every day of his election trial.
Delaying the case until after November could avoid the possibility of a former president being convicted before he faces voters, a potential historical stain. But if this trial is a trial for the fall, voters will have to pay attention to Trump’s attempts to subvert democracy after the 2020 election and the mob attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. This will make us reconsider Mr. Trump’s actions leading up to this. Although it is not expected to be shown on television, it will still be a media spectacle and will dominate the final stages of the campaign, just as voters are casting early votes and making their final choices. .
Mr. Trump’s lawyers are sure to raise the question of whether Americans can receive a fair trial from a jury given the amount of political news they are bombarded with. The Justice Department typically tries to avoid filing politically sensitive cases about 90 days before an election. But officials could argue that Trump closed off his own options for a speedier trial with multiple delaying tactics.
Former federal prosecutor Elliott Williams flatly rejected the idea that the federal election trial and the close 2024 election will deprive President Trump of fair treatment.
“He can get a fair trial. And I want to pour cold water on the idea that he can’t do that,” Williams said Thursday on “CNN This Morning.”
“Now, the thought is, could he get a trial by August or September? It would be lightning fast. The minute they come out of the Supreme Court in June, everyone “If we ran to the courthouse and started preparing for trial. If we could get everything started by August or September, I think it would be a real record-breaker.”
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