No date set for Trump's classified documents case
Side-by-side image of Donald Trump and stacks of boxes seen in a bathroom and shower in The Mar-a-Lago Club’s Lake Room at former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. (Trump photo by James Devaney/GC Images) (Stack
A federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s classified documents case has yet to set a trial date.
Despite federal prosecutors pressing U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to set a date during the pivotal hours-long hearing in Fort Pierce, Florida, the judge expressed skepticism that the case could proceed to trial on the timeline requested by lawyers.
The trial date decision is crucial, determining whether the former president and leading Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential race faces a jury before the November election. Given the gravity of the allegations and the breadth of evidence that prosecutors say they have accumulated, the documents case has long been seen as the most legally perilous of the four criminal prosecutions that Trump is facing this year.
The case had been scheduled for months to reach trial on May 20, but with Cannon signaling months ago that she intended to reconsider that date, the two sides submitted competing proposals this week that could theoretically result in Trump standing trial at some point this summer — or not anytime this year.
"This case can be tried this summer," said prosecutor Jay Bratt, a member of special counsel Jack Smith’s team, which has pressed for a July 8 trial date.
Trump faces 40 felony counts in Florida that accuse him of holding on to dozens of classified documents when he left the White House that were stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and then refusing to give them back to government investigators.
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The former commander-in-chief is also charged with recruiting staff members to delete surveillance footage that would show boxes of records moved around the property.
Trump and his lawyers have denied any wrongdoing and asked U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon last week to dismiss the case, citing that the same immunity theory now being considered by the Supreme Court, the Associated Press reported.
In this handout photo provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, stacks of boxes can be observed in the White and Gold Ballroom of former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by U.S. Department of Justice vi
In June 2023, Trump pleaded not guilty to the felony counts in the classified documents case.
The trial was scheduled for May 20, but Cannon previously postponed multiple dates in the case, indicating that she would revisit the trial date during a hearing on Friday.
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Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Sheraton Portsmouth Harborside Hotel on January 17, 2024 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
On Thursday, federal prosecutors requested a July 8 trial date.
Trump's attorneys proposed Aug. 12 as a potential date to start jury selection. His lawyers also argued there was no way to hold a fair trial this year as Trump seeks to lock up the Republican presidential nomination.
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The trial date in the classified documents case comes as Trump is dealing with a separate federal case in Washington, D.C., charging him with plotting to overturn the 2020 election.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court said it would hear arguments in late April on whether Trump, as a former president, is immune from prosecution.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.