WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s trial for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election will begin on March 4, 2024, the federal judge overseeing the case said Monday.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected both Trump’s proposed start date of April 2026 as well as the Department of Justice’s date of January 2024, saying “neither” was acceptable.
Chutkan heard arguments Monday from Trump’s lawyers and federal prosecutors about when they felt the trial should begin. The judge added Trump would have to prioritize the trial and that she wouldn’t change the trial schedule based on his schedule.
“This is a request for a show trial, not a speedy trial,” Trump lawyer John Lauro said of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s January 2024 date. “Mr. Trump is not above the law, but he is not below the law.”
Smith’s team said the discovery in the case is up to 12.8 million pages and that it has now been “substantially complete.”
In their argument for the 2026 date, Trump’s lawyers cited Trump’s other legal issues in other jurisdictions as well as the large amount of discovery in the case.
“This case is not going to trial in 2026,” Chutkan said in response. “Discovery in 2023 is not sitting in a warehouse with boxes of paper looking at every single page.”
“Mr. Trump, like any defendant, will have to make the trial date work regardless of his schedule,” she said.
Trump was indicted on four federal charges for his alleged role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election earlier this month.
The indictment names four federal charges for the former president: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
“The attack on our nation’s capitol on January 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy,” special counsel Jack Smith said in brief remarks at the time. “It was fueled by lies.”
The indictment is the fourth for Trump, who is the current Republican frontrunner in the race for the 2024 GOP nomination.
A new poll from ABC News shows the majority of Americans want Trump to suspend his campaign amid his legal woes.
