The trial againstformer president Donald Trump for retaining classified documents in his Florida mansion will be May 20, 2024, decreed the federal court processing his case,
TheU.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon I set this Friday the date to begin the trial, which will take place just six months before the next United States presidential elections.
The date has a patriotic significance for the Cuban community, where Trump has a considerable mass of followers. He May 20 marks the founding of the Republic of Cuba in 1902 and it is the object of a popular phrase with multiple meanings in the Cuban proverb: “Have a May 20th.”
The judicial decision is an intermediate step between the two proposals that Cannon had on his table: the prosecution asking that the trial be held on December 11, and the defense team with the idea of postponing it indefinitely until a date after 2024 presidential elections.
“The government's proposed timetable is uncharacteristically expedited and inconsistent with the guarantee of a fair trial,” Cannon wrote in aseven-page opinion. "The Court finds that the interests of justice served by this postponement outweigh the best interest of the public and the defendants in a speedy trial."
The judge argued that the amount of evidence that will have to be reviewed, including classified information, is extremely voluminous and would increase in the normal course as the trial approached.
Cannon further ordered that a special hearing be held on May 14, 2024 to establish the final schedule and all details related to the trial.
The trial will be held in the federal court in Fort Pierce, 200 kilometers from Miami, which belongs to the Southern District of Florida. Cannon was appointed to her position in 2020, appointed by Trump himself.
The Trump campaign called Cannon's order "a significant setback to the Justice Department's crusade to deny President Trump a fair legal process."
The lawyers of theJustice DepartmentThey did not comment on the ruling.
WithTrump appears indicted in the same process as former Marine Waltine Nauta, his assistant in the White House and close collaborator inMar-a-Lago since January 2021. Both Trump and Nauta have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The date is firm for now, but according to developments in the process it could be modified by Cannon's decision,
If maintained, the trial will take place shortly after another judicial process against Trump is carried out in a New York state court, from March 25, 2024, a case that implicates him in an alleged payment of money to silence an actress for not.
But the postponement will have additional meaning. The trial would take place in the heat of the primary elections that will open in February 2024, but before the Republican National Convention, where the presidential candidate must be defined.
However, there will be no calm in legal matters for the former president in the following weeks.
As soon as next week Trump could be indicted for his alleged connection to the events associated with theassault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. A grand jury has already concluded deliberations on the case and the Justice Department's decision could be announced next Monday.
Meanwhile, another grand jury is in the final phase in Georgia to formulate another accusation against Trump for interfering in the electoral processin the state. It is expected that a filing of criminal charges could occur in the first week of August.
What do you think?
SEE COMMENTS (14)Filed in: