Judge sets Trump classified documents trial for May 2024, months before election

Former President Donald Trump’s trial on charges of mishandling classified documents will begin on May 20, 2024, a federal judge ordered Friday.

Judge Aileen Cannon laid out the schedule three days after defense lawyers argued that the case should not head to trial until after the November 2024 presidential election, due to Trump’s status as a current presidential candidate.

The trial will take place in U.S. District Court in Fort Pierce, Florida, Cannon ordered.

The ruling from Cannon lands on a middle ground between the requests of Trump’s legal team and the Department of Justice, which had pushed for the trial to begin in late 2023.

Polls show Trump is currently leading the 2024 Republican primary field. If the case moves forward as currently scheduled, the trial could come after a slew of key states have already held their nominating contests.  The Republican National Convention, where the GOP will select its presidential nominee, is set to take place in Milwaukee in mid-July 2024.

Trump’s lawyers did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment on the trial schedule.

Trump last month pleaded not guilty to 37 criminal counts related to his retention of classified documents after leaving the White House in 2021 and subsequent alleged efforts to conceal them from the government. Walt Nauta, his valet and co-defendant, has pleaded not guilty to six criminal charges.

The case has been assigned to Cannon, a Trump appointee who had previously faced criticism after ruling in Trump’s favor in a separate legal dispute related to the classified records.

Last week, Trump’s attorneys had asked Cannon to postpone setting a trial date and asked her to reject the DOJ’s request to start the trial in mid-December. Cannon appeared skeptical of both parties’ requests in a hearing Tuesday afternoon, NBC News reported.

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