Former President Trump will stand trial on March 4, 2024

,

for four felony charges relating to

are Trumps

alleged attempts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election.

That means that the jury selection would start a day earlier

Super Tuesday on March 5 and the Super Tuesday primary on March 5

when California, Texas and a dozen other states hold their presidential primaries.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said so

its decision cannot consider setting a trial date

the other responsibilities of the former president

she said

.

Setting a trial date should not depend on one’s professional commitments, Chutkan said. Mr. Trump, like any other defendant, will have to get the trial date passed regardless of his schedule.

Special Counsel Jack Smith has charged Trump with conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

in

power despite losing to Joe Biden. The charges are conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy against rights

,

and obstruction or attempted obstruction of any official proceeding. He has pleaded not guilty.

Smith had requested a trial start date of January 2, 2024, arguing there is a public interest in seeing the matter resolved before the election. Smith said in a lawsuit that his team will take four to six weeks to present his case in court.

Trump attorney John Lauro asked the court in a petition for April 2026

they did not offer a day of the month

date of trial, citing the amount of evidence he received from the government. He said the prosecution will also take four to six weeks to defend themselves.

These proposals are very far apart and…neither are acceptable, Chutkan said before announcing the date of the trial.

Chutkan hit back at Lauro’s argument that reviewing the evidence is an “overwhelming task” for the defense, saying Trump had known for a year that he was under investigation and that his legal counsel had to review documents such as items from the National Archives. before being handed over to prosecutors.

You knew this was coming, Mr. Trump’s counsel knew this was coming, Chutkan said. “This wasn’t, ‘Surprise! He’s been sued.'”

She had instructed Chutkan

prosecutors

Unpleasant

laid down evidence how was already transferred during the discovery process and placed in a searchable database, rejecting Lauro’s argument that the defense will have to review millions of pages themselves.

“Discovery in 2023 isn’t sitting in a warehouse of boxes of paper looking at every page,” she said, adding that most criminal prosecutions begin by reviewing evidence using keyword searches.

of evidence

in databases.

Lauro said the long preparation time is necessary because of the complex legal issues that will be addressed.

“This is one of the most unique cases ever brought in the history of the United States on legal issues,” Lauro said.

Lauro said the defense expects this

S

to file motions related to executive immunity

on which the courts have not yet ruled in criminal cases, and together with

a motion of selective prosecution accusing the Justice Department of bringing the case to influence the 2024 campaign and in retaliation for assaulting Biden’s son Hunter Biden.

Prosecutor Molly Gulland Gaston argued that Lauro raised the issues

as a novel

it has already been well litigated. She said Trump and Lauro’s public comments in recent weeks disregard claims that they take years to prepare, including Lauro’s recent televised remarks about his preparations and strategy, and Trump’s claims of a 2020 election report that he threatened to publish last week before being fired. arrested in a related state-level case in Fulton County, Georgia.

Gaston also said that Trump

already

had already litigated executive privilege issues between August 2022 and March 2023 in connection with the testimony of fourteen witnesses in five sealed proceedings.

the

4th of March

This date complicates Trump’s already packed schedule, which, along with the events for the GOP 2024 presidential primaries, already includes several civil and criminal cases before the summer of 2024.