US District Judge Aileen Cannon has ruled that former President Donald Trump's trial in the classified documents case will start in May 2024. While issuing the ruling, the judge rejected the arguments of the prosecution to start the trial at an earlier date. The judge also refrained from siding with the defense, which argued that the trial must be postponed to a date after the end of the 2024 presidential election.
Judge Cannon said prosecutors are passing on voluminous evidence to the defense, adding that there are also the complexities that the classified material at the heart of the case will bring to the proceedings. The court will be faced with extensive pre-trial motion practice on a diverse number of legal and factual issues, the judge added, while ruling that the prosecution's demand to start the trial in December was not possible.
Presidential Primaries
If the trial starts in May 2024, most of the crucial points in the timeline could happen in the heat of the presidential campaign. Trump is the leading Republican candidate currently, and most of the bigger primaries are likely to fold up by May 2024. During the 2016 presidential race, Trump had wrapped up the nomination by May.
What are other Cases Trump Faces?
The former president will undergo trials in October 2023 in New York, to defend against a civil lawsuit by the NY attorney general. The lawsuit alleges that Trump, his adult sons and the Trump Organization were involved in a $250 million fraud for inflating the values of their properties including the golf courses and hotels. Though Trump is not required to attend the trial, his lawyers figure out that he may be called to testify. The NY Attorney is seeking a ban on Trump from doing business in New York.
In January 2024, Trump will have another court date where he will defend against a lawsuit by former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll. The suit accused him of defamation over statements denying allegation that he raped her in the mid-1990s. Trump is facing more than $10 million in damages in this case.
Again, in March 2024, a Manhattan jury will decide issue the verdict in a case that accuses Trump of falsifying business records to hide the hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. The suit alleges that Trump falsified records to cover up the payment of money to lawyer Michael Cohen who passed on the amount to Daniels in 2016. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
