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(CN) — A federal judge appointed by Donald Trump set an Aug. 14 trial date for the former president on charges related to his handling of classified government documents after his single term in office.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon ordered both sides to file pretrial motions by July 24, and set aside two weeks for a trial in Fort Pierce at the Southern District Court of Florida. But she added that the parties could ask to push back the trial date due to the complexities of the case and issues related to classified information, which could potentially draw out the start of the trial.
During his arraignment last Wednesday, Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 federal charges at the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse in Miami.
Trump is accused of taking more than 300 classified documents from the White House, a trove that included highly sensitive materials on an Iranian missile program, surveillance efforts in China and the nuclear capabilities of an unidentified foreign power.
The indictment consists of 31 counts for willfully retaining top-secret national security documents, as well as additional counts for conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding and concealing documents, and making false statements to investigators. If convicted on these charges, Trump could face up to 10 years in prison for retaining national security secrets.
It also includes charges against the former president’s longtime valet and aide, Walt Nauta, who was responsible for moving the boxes in which Trump kept classified documents. Nauta also pleaded not guilty.
Trump and Nauta are charged together on five counts related to obstruction and concealing documents — the obstruction charges carry a maximum of 20 years in prison, and five for concealment — and each also faces an individual count for making false statements, which also carry maximum sentences of five years imprisonment.
The judge’s scheduled date puts the case on track for a speedy trial, as pledged by the Justice Department’s special counsel overseeing the case, Jack Smith.
Cannon, who has been a member of the conservative Federalist Society since 2005, previously presided over a case that Trump brought after the government found the documents in a raid of his South Florida estate Mar-a-Lago. In her time on the federal bench, according to a [recent survey](http://at the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse in Miami) by The New York Times, her criminal trial experience has added up to just 14 days. Last year, Cannon was widely ridiculed, and her decision overturned by the 11th Circuit when she issued a ruling that would have delayed the Trump investigation, asserting that the former president should enjoy special protections not otherwise provided to individuals targeted by a search warrant.
On Monday, a federal magistrate judge issued an order barring Trump’s defense attorneys from releasing to the media or the public any evidence they obtain from prosecutors in the case.
Trump will also face another trial in New York that is scheduled for March 25, 2024, connected to hush money that was paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels while he was running for president for the first time.
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