WASHINGTON (CN) — Special counsel Jack Smith proposed a Jan. 2, 2024 start date for a trial in the 2020 election subversion case against Donald Trump on Thursday, a day before the parties are set to meet for the first time following Trump’s not guilty plea last week.
Smith emphasized both the government and the public interest in a speedy trial — set just four days before the three-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol — that would end well before Americans vote for the next president in November.
“A Jan. 2 trial would vindicate the public’s strong in a speedy trial … of particular significance here, where the defendant, a former president, is charged with conspiring to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election, obstruct the certification of the election results, and discount citizens’ legitimate votes,” Smith wrote in Thursday’s filing.
The proposal echoes a similar request made by Smith in Trump’s other federal criminal case in Florida over his handling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort. Prosecutors had pushed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, whom Trump appointed in November 2020, to set a start date in December.
Cannon said that the government’s request was “unreasonable,” instead selecting May 20 to begin. Cannon also rejected requests by Trump’s legal team to delay the trial until after the 2024 presidential election, when Trump, if elected, could theoretically pardon himself or order his Justice Department to drop the case.
Trump has yet to file his requested start date for the trial in the Jan. 6 case but will likely push for a much later date than Smith’s.
According to Thursday’s brief, the government anticipates a four-six week proceeding, which would place the trial in the midst of the early primary season, with the Iowa Republican caucuses on Jan. 15, 2024 and the Nevada Republican primary Feb. 6, 2024.
The government’s scheduling request was filed in preparation for a hearing before U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Aug. 28, where the Obama appointee will likely decide on a start date.
Before then, prosecutors and Trump’s legal team — Trump himself will not be in attendance — will meet Friday to discuss dueling proposals regarding a set of rules Trump and his lawyers must follow while reviewing reams of evidence prosecutors have gathered in the case.
The government had requested a protective order last week that would block Trump from sharing documents publicly, particularly on social media, while defense counsel requested narrower terms that would mark specific documents as sensitive and would allow “volunteer attorneys” access to them.
Thursday’s request comes as Trump has moved to bolster his legal team amid increasing scheduling difficulties with multiple civil and criminal cases across the country, stretching down the East Coast from New York to Southern Florida.
On Wednesday night, the former president filed a request and received approval for Filzah Pavalon, of Lauro & Singer, to appear at Friday’s hearing in place of Todd Blanche, who was in Florida on Thursday.
Trump also requested that Gregory Singer, a partner at Lauro & Singer, appear alongside Pavalon and John Lauro moving forward.
In addition to the two federal cases in Washington and Florida, Trump also faces criminal charges in New York over falsifying business records that is set to go to trial March 25, 2024.
Trump may see a fourth set of criminal charges filed in the coming weeks as an investigation in Fulton County, Georgia into possible election interference — including a call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking him to “find 11,780” votes after the 2020 election — wraps up before the end of the current court term on Sept. 1.
A trio of civil cases in New York will also create scheduling conflicts for Trump’s lawyers as they deal with a civil fraud case against the Trump organization, a class action claiming Trump and his company promoted a pyramid scheme and a second defamation suit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll after Trump said during a CNN town hall in May that her claims that he sexually assaulted were fabricated.
A trial in Carroll’s suit is scheduled to begin Jan. 15, 2024, less than two weeks after Smith’s requested start date.
Soon after requesting the January start to the trial, Smith requested an additional meeting to be scheduled after the Aug. 28 hearing to discuss a “small amount of classified information” that would be turned over to Trump during the discovery process. Similar to the requested protective order, the government seeks a set of rules from the court regarding the handling of the classified documents.
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