Judge Chutkan Hands Trump Loss With Trial Date

Judge Tanya Chutkan on Monday set a date for Donald Trump's trial on federal charges that he tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Chutkan scheduled the trial to begin on March 4, 2024. The date is more than two years earlier than the April 2026 date requested by Trump's attorneys, who had sought to push back the trial after the 2024 presidential election. Department of Justice (DOJ) special counsel Jack Smith, whose investigation led to the charges against the former president, had requested a trial date of January 2, 2024.

The trial will begin the day before Super Tuesday, when voters in 15 states and one territory will vote in the Republican primary race for the presidential nomination.

In a statement, Trump's campaign criticized Chutkan for the trial date.

"The date set today deprives President Trump of his Constitutional right to a fair trial, a seminal bedrock of America, and continues to expose the corruption of the witch hunts being thrown against President Trump," the campaign said.

On Monday, former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Newsweek he was "not surprised" about the early trial date set by Chutkan, noting the U.S. District Court judge's reputation for "moving cases quickly."

"It's an easier case to preside over as a trial judge than some of the others," he continued. "There is only one defendant because Smith made the strategic decision not to charge the co-conspirators, there aren't any attorney defendants who will raise privilege issues, and there aren't all the classified documents. The South Florida case must deal with the [Classified Information Procedures Act] both during discovery and a trial," Rahmani said.

Rahmani said Trump will continue trying to make the case that he needs more time to prepare for the trial. But he added that U.S. District Court judges "generally have a lot of discretion in managing their trial calendars, so her ruling will likely stand."

Earlier this month, the DOJ charged Trump with four criminal counts in Smith's investigation into the former president's multiple efforts to overturn the 2020 election, culminating in the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. A mob of Trump's supporters, allegedly motivated by his unfounded claims of voter fraud in the race, violently protested the election results in a failed effort to block congressional certification of President Joe Biden's Electoral College victory.

Federal prosecutors alleged in their indictment that Trump "was determined to remain in power" following his loss to Biden and allegedly tried to block the certification. The DOJ charged him with 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.

Prosecutors also investigated Trump and his allies' alleged efforts to submit false slates of pro-Trump electors to the Electoral College from seven key states that he narrowly lost in 2020.

Trump has maintained his innocence, arguing that he was within his rights to raise concerns about the 2020 election results and that prosecutors are targeting him for political reasons.

Trump's legal team had argued that a April 2026 trial date was necessary because the "size and scope" of the evidence being brought by federal prosecutors requires a long time to prepare for trial and his defense team may need four to six weeks to present their case.

Update 8/28/23, 3:39 p.m. ET: This story was updated with a statement from Donald Trump's campaign.