Former President Donald Trump’s federal trial on charges that he unlawfully tried to remain in power following his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden will begin March 4, a judge here ruled Monday.
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan set the trial to begin one day before Super Tuesday, when Republican voters in 15 states and territories go to the polls to select their choice to be the party’s 2024 presidential candidate.
The trial in the nation’s capital is set to start three weeks before Trump is due to stand trial in Manhattan on charges related to payouts to porn star Stormy Daniels – despite both sides in the federal trial estimating they would each need up to six weeks to present their cases.
It was immediately unclear Monday whether the Manhattan case would be rescheduled.
Prosecutors from the office of special counsel Jack Smith had asked Chutkan to set the trial to begin Jan. 2, while the former president’s defense team had pushed for a start date in April 2026.
“This is a request for a show trial, not a fair trial,” defense attorney John Lauro said of the prosecution’s proposed court date.
Prosecutor Molly Gaston argued in response that more than 60% of 12.8 million pages of discovery came from sources to which the Trump team already had access – including tweets, videos and statements by the former president himself.
At one point in the hearing, Lauro spent 15 minutes haranguing Chutkan to grant the later date, punctuating his words by slamming his finger on his lectern.
“Let’s take the temperature down a moment here,” Chutkan told Lauro. “I want to know, despite the rhetoric in your response, realistically why you need this time.”
