Prosecutors from special counsel Jack Smith’s team have requested a trial date of January 2 for former U.S. President Donald Trump in the case where he is charged with plotting to overturn his 2020 election loss. If U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan approves this proposal, the trial against Trump, an early front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential primary, would begin just before the anniversary of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, which was fueled by Trump’s false claims about the election.
This proposed date falls just under two weeks before the first votes are scheduled to be cast in the Republican presidential race, coinciding with Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses planned for January 15.
Trump responded with anger to the proposed trial date on his Truth Social platform, criticizing the timing as one day into the New Year and accusing it of causing maximum election interference with Iowa. Prosecutors argue that a swift trial is essential, asserting that it would vindicate the public’s strong interest in a speedy trial, particularly given that the defendant is a former president charged with conspiring to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election, obstructing the certification of the election results, and undermining citizens’ legitimate votes.
Trump’s legal team has not yet submitted their proposed trial date. The judge is expected to determine the date during a court hearing scheduled for August 28.
In addition to this case, Trump is already scheduled to be in court during next year’s presidential primary season, facing a criminal trial in a separate case in New York stemming from hush money payments made during the 2016 campaign. He is also set to go to trial in May in another case brought by Smith over his handling of classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
The charges against Trump include conspiracy to defraud the United States, with prosecutors alleging a weekslong plot to undermine the will of voters and cling to power after losing the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden.
The indictment accuses Trump of spreading false claims about election fraud, intentionally sowing distrust in the democratic process, and pressuring Vice President Mike Pence and state election officials to take action in a brazen attempt to retain power.
Trump, who pleaded not guilty, has portrayed the investigation as politically motivated and indicated that his legal team will argue he relied on the advice of lawyers around him in 2020 and had the right to challenge an election he believed was rigged.
Although Trump has expressed the intention to move the 2020 election case out of Washington, claiming that he can’t get a fair trial in the heavily Democratic city, it is challenging to convince a judge that a jury pool is so biased that a trial must be relocated. Judges in Washington, including Chutkan, have repeatedly rejected similar efforts by Trump supporters charged in the January 6 Capitol attack.
Smith’s Washington case accuses Trump of orchestrating schemes to enlist fake electors in seven battleground states won by Biden, leading them to sign false certificates representing themselves as legitimate electors, and attempting to use the Justice Department’s investigative power to launch sham election fraud probes. When these efforts failed, prosecutors claim Trump badgered Pence to disrupt the ceremonial counting of electoral votes before Congress on January 6, 2021, the day an angry mob of his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol.
The legal battle previewed in this case includes arguments over a protective order that would establish rules on what Trump’s legal team can do with evidence provided by the government as they prepare for trial. Protective orders are common in criminal cases and are usually imposed with minimal legal wrangling.
However, Trump’s lawyers argue that prosecutors’ proposal, seeking to prevent Trump and his legal team from publicly disclosing government-provided evidence, is too broad and would restrict his First Amendment rights. They are urging the judge to impose a more limited protective order that would only restrict the public sharing of information deemed “sensitive,” such as grand jury materials.
Prosecutors, in their request for the protective order, cited Trump’s habit of using social media to discuss the legal cases against him, expressing concern that he might share sensitive information that could intimidate witnesses.
Chutkan is expected to hold a hearing on this matter on Friday in Washington’s federal court.
Simultaneously, Trump is preparing for a potential fourth indictment in a case out of Fulton County, Georgia, over alleged efforts by him and his Republican allies to illegally meddle in the 2020 election in that state. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat, has indicated that any indictments in the case would likely come this month.