Judge Aileen Cannon has surprised many by setting a trial date for the DOJ’s classified documents case against Donald Trump. Experts previously believed the trial would likely take place sometime in 2025, but the judge has set the state date for August 14th, 2023. She’s also ordered that all pre-trial motions be completed in July.
CNBC wrote: “A Florida federal judge on Tuesday scheduled the criminal trial of former President Donald Trump for his alleged illegal retention of classified government documents to begin Aug. 14.
(…)In her order Tuesday, Judge Aileen Cannon told Department of Justice prosecutors and lawyers for Trump to file all pre-trial motions by July 24. Cannon also ordered that all hearings in the case, including the trial, will be held in U.S. District Court in Fort Pierce, Florida.”
Cannon said in her order that any request to move the date of the trial must include details about the factors that constitute grounds for such action, and specifically noted the complexity of the case and the process to obtain security clearances. She set a July 24 deadline for Trump’s lawyers and federal prosecutors to submit pre-trial motions.
The most widely held response to this is that the trial will still not start in August of 2023, but it seems as if Cannon is trying to expedite the timeline. So if the trial gets delayed six months to a year, then it would take place at the beginning of the primaries or just months prior to the general election.
Trump is facing 37 federal felony counts relating to his handling of sensitive government documents that were recovered from his South Florida property, Mar-a-Lago, after he left the White House in January 2021. He pleaded not guilty to all counts at his arraignment last week and was released on his own recognizance.
The former president is accused of keeping 31 government documents relating to the national defense, nearly all of which had top secret or secret classification markings. According to the indictment, the records related to U.S. nuclear weaponry and military planning, as well as the military capabilities of other countries.
BREAKING: Judge Cannon has set the Trump documents trial date for August 14 with a motions deadline of July 24
Cannon: "This case is hereby set for a Criminal Jury Trial during the two-week period commencing August 14, 2023, or as soon thereafter as the case may be called.”… pic.twitter.com/OiUGsxJWhy
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) June 20, 2023
