Judge Cannon announced his decision regarding the start date of the trial in the case where Trump was accused of confidential documents.
Noting that the trial process will begin on May 20, 2024, Cannon stated that the court rejected the requests of Trump’s lawyers to not set a date for the hearing at this stage.
On the other hand, Cannon shared the view that the date proposed by the Ministry of Justice is unusually expedited and incompatible with ensuring a fair trial.
It is stated that Trump’s legal team can make various demands during this process and delay the hearing date.
Trump side argues that the trial will not be fair during the election period
At the preliminary hearing on the case held on 19 July, the lawyers of the prosecutor’s office conveyed their request for the trial to begin in December.
Trump’s lawyers, on the other hand, insisted that due to the 2024 presidential election, the proceedings should be postponed to after the election date.
While the Trump side argued that the trial would not be fair during the election process, the prosecution claimed that if Trump, who is currently leading by a clear margin among the Republican candidates, wins the elections, he can use his presidential authority to exempt himself from the case or have the Minister of Justice cancel it.
Secret documents from Trump’s mansion
Former US President Donald Trump’s home in Florida was raided by FBI agents on the morning of August 8, 2022 for “confidential documents” investigation.
Describing the raid and the ongoing investigations as “political”, Trump specifically requested the documents taken from Mar-a-Lago to be reviewed by “an independent arbitrator or a special judge”.
Former Attorney General Jack Smith, who was appointed as the special expert in the “confidential documents” and “January 6 Congressional raid” investigations conducted against Trump, accused Trump of taking classified documents with him when leaving his post at the White House and hindering federal investigations.
Trump, who appeared before a judge in Miami on 13 June upon the indictment and went down in history as “the first ex-president to appear in court for the second time as part of a federal investigation”, also denied 37 separate charges against him.
Trump had previously appeared before a judge in New York on April 4 on charges that he paid a “shutdown” to a woman during the 2016 presidential election.