In response to the Department of Justice’s suggested start date of Jan. 2, 2024 — in the middle of a presidential election that’s sure to make history, no matter how it goes — for former President Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to prevent a transfer of power from himself to President-elect Joe Biden in the aftermath of the contentious 2020 election, Trump’s legal team has put forth a schedule that it considers “more reasonable.”
Instead of a trial date in the middle of the election, Trump’s attorneys have suggested that jury selection not begin until more than two years later — in April of 2026.
Much of their reasoning behind the later date has to do with the amount of time the federal government has spend investigating the former president and the huge volume of records it has submitted to the court as evidence.
“This more reasonable schedule — equal to the government’s time spent investigating — will allow this case to proceed in an orderly fashion, with both parties having a fair opportunity to review all material information, advance appropriate motions, and apprise the Court of relevant legal issues,” the document, titled “Response in Opposition to Government’s Proposed Trial Calendar” said.
Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team has already provided 11.5 million pages of discovery material to the defendant’s team, with more possibly to come in the future.
“Nonetheless, even assuming we could begin reviewing the documents today, we would need to proceed at a pace of 99,762 pages per day to finish the government’s initial production by its proposed date for jury selection,” Trump’s team said, trying to make that enormous number comprehensible. “That is the entirety of Tolstoy’s War and Peace, cover to cover, 78 times a day, every day, from now until jury selection.”
In addition, Trump is involved in a number of other legal proceedings that will require his time and presence, The Hill pointed out.
“Trump already has a packed court schedule as well, with a New York civil trial scheduled for October, a defamation trial scheduled for January, a New York criminal case scheduled for March and a federal case in Florida scheduled for May,” the outlet reported. “Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has also asked for a March trial date after a grand jury handed up an indictment against the former president and 18 others earlier this week over their efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.”
Arguing for a trial date at the beginning of next year, prosecutors seemed to indicate that they felt it was important for the court’s ultimate decision to be rendered prior to the next presidential election, presumably because it could influence some voters.
Should the trial be held after the election?
Yes: 97% (143 Votes)
No: 3% (4 Votes)
“[A] January 2 trial date would vindicate the public’s strong interest in a speedy trial — an interest guaranteed by the Constitution and federal law in all cases, but 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,” they said, according to The Hill.
Trump’s team agreed with the importance of a speedy trial, but argued for a different definition of “speedy.”
“The government’s objective is clear: to deny President Trump and his counsel a fair ability to prepare for trial,” they argued in the filing. “The Court should deny the government’s request. The public interest lies in justice and fair trial, not a rush to judgment. Moreover, if the rights to due process and counsel are to mean anything, a defendant must have adequate time to defend himself.”
“Even under our Proposed Schedule, we would need to review approximately 12,000 pages per day to complete a first pass of the initial production by our proposed trial date,” the defense team reasoned.
You can read the entire 16-page court filing here:
gov.uscourts.dcd.258149.30.0_1 by The Western Journal on Scribd
“The Proposed Schedule appropriately balances President Trump’s constitutional and statutory rights to counsel and a fair trial with the public’s need for promptness,” the arguments concluded.
No date has yet been announced as to when a trial schedule will be decided upon.
