The federal judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s case involving allegations related to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol Building has set a trial date that is already trigging new calls of politicization.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan set the date for March 4, 2024, the Monday before the “Super Tuesday” primaries, prompting an outcry from Trump as well as others.
Breitbart News reported:
The Associated Press reported on the Chutkan decision Monday morning in Washington, DC, after she denied Trump’s legal team’s request for a Spring 2026 date.
March 4 comes a day before more than a dozen states hold their causes or primaries, marking one of the most momentous days of the presidential primary process.
“The public has a right to prompt and efficient resolution of this matter,” Chutkan said Monday, the AP reported.
“Setting a trial date does not depend and should not depend on the defendant’s personal and professional obligations,” the judge also said, per Politico’s Kyle Cheney. “Mr. Trump, like any defendant, will have to make the trial date work regardless of his schedule.”
Special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutors had been seeking an early January trial date — just ahead of the Iowa caucuses.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), whom Trump endorsed last year, called the date “straight-up election interference” by the Obama-appointed judge.
Straight up election interference. No other way to put it. https://t.co/azlosqC1gH
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) August 28, 2023
Trump faces four counts in the case, including “Conspiracy to Defraud the United States,” “Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding,” “Obstruction of and Attempt to Obstruct an Official Proceeding,” and “Conspiracy Against Rights.” He faces a maximum sentence of 55 years behind bars — a death sentence, since he’s already 77 — if convicted.
Trump criticized Chutkan after his legal team was unsuccessful in convincing her to postpone the trial until after 2026, citing a substantial amount of evidence they needed to examine. Furthermore, he strongly criticized Smith and declared his intention to file an appeal.
However, the specifics of what he intends to contest through this appeal remain unclear, as reported by the Daily Mail.
“Deranged Jack Smith & his team of Thugs, who were caught going to the White House just prior to Indicting the 45th President of the United States (an absolute No No!), have been working on this Witch Hunt for almost 3 years, but decided to bring it smack in the middle of Crooked Joe Biden’s Political Opponent’s campaign against him,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Breitbart News added: “Notably, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against Trump alleging 34 counts of falsifying business records is also set to commence this spring on March 25. Smith’s other case relating to classified documents Trump allegedly took at the end of his presidency is set to begin on May 20.”
