U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has scheduled the trial date for former President Donald Trump’s federal case, alleging he attempted to overturn the 2020 election results, for March 4, 2024 – a day before Super Tuesday.
The Associated Press reported on the Chutkan decision Monday morning in Washington, DC, after she denied Trump’s legal team’s request for a Spring 2026 date.
March 4 comes a day before more than a dozen states hold their causes or primaries, marking one of the most momentous days of the presidential primary process.
“The public has a right to prompt and efficient resolution of this matter,” Chutkan said Monday, according to the AP.
“Setting a trial date does not depend and should not depend on the defendant’s personal and professional obligations,” the judge also remarked, as Politico’s Kyle Cheney reported. “Mr. Trump, like any defendant, will have to make the trial date work regardless of his schedule.”
Prosecutors under Special Counsel Jack Smith had been seeking a trial date in January, weeks ahead of the Iowa Caucuses.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), who has endorsed Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, was quick to weigh in, slamming the move as “Straight up election interference.”
Straight up election interference. No other way to put it. https://t.co/azlosqC1gH
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) August 28, 2023
Trump faces four counts in the case, including “Conspiracy to Defraud the United States,” “Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding,” “Obstruction of and Attempt to Obstruct an Official Proceeding,” and “Conspiracy Against Rights.”
He faces a maximum of 55 years if convicted on all counts. The indictment marks just one of four criminal cases that President Joe Biden’s Justice Department and liberal district attorneys in New York and Georgia have brought against him in the past five months.
Notably, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against Trump alleging 34 counts of falsifying business records is also set to commence this spring on March 25. Smith’s other case relating to classified documents Trump allegedly took at the end of his presidency is set to begin on May 20.
