(PartiallyPolitics.com) – District of Columbia Judge Tanya Chutkan has set the trial date for the federal case regarding former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election to March 4, 2024.
While special counsel Jack Smith had requested that the trial in this case should begin on Jan. 2, 2024, Trump’s legal team had instead claimed that the trial should not start until 2026. However, in her decision, the district judge opted for a case that was closer to the one proposed by Smith and is right in the middle of the Republican presidential primary calendar. Smith had proposed for the trial to start on Jan. 2, 2024 and suggested that the trial would last around four to six weeks. If that date had been set by the judge then the trial would have taken place only weeks before the Iowa caucus and the first primary in New Hampshire.
Defense attorney John Lauro stated following the scheduling of the trial that while Trump’s legal team was going to abide by the date set they would “not be able to provide adequate representation,” which he believes should be noted on the record.
Chutkan addressed this issue through an order with a pre-trial schedule. In the courtroom, there was also a short-lived discussion about Trump’s team polling the people of the District of Columbia to determine whether or not they should file a motion to move to a different venue. Chutkan argued that she would keep a careful eye on those who might attempt to “poison the jury pool.”
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