Ken Bredemeier
Lawyers for former President Donald Trump asked on Thursday for an April 2026 trial date in a Washington federal court, where he is charged with illegally trying to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss.
That would mean the trial would start after the November 2024 election.
Special counsel Jack Smith asked last week for a January 2, 2024, trial. Government prosecutors say it might take four to six weeks to present their case against the former president.
“The public interest lies in justice and fair trial, not a rush to judgment,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in their request.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is expected to set a date at an August 28 hearing in Washington.
Georgia indictment
The former president is looking at the possibility that trials will fill his 2024 calendar while he seeks the Republican presidential nomination to reclaim the White House.
Trump has been indicted in four cases, most recently on Monday in Georgia where prosecutor Fani Willis has called for her 2020 election interference trial against Trump and 18 co-defendants to start March 4.
The trial date on the racketeering accusations against Trump will be set by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who was randomly assigned to hear the case in Atlanta, the capital of the southern state of Georgia. Trump’s lawyers almost assuredly will ask for a much later date, quite possibly after the November presidential election.
Former President Donald Trump laughs while looking over the 18th hole during the final round of the Bedminster Invitational LIV Golf tournament in Bedminster, NJ, Aug. 13, 2023.
