Florida Judge Drops Bomb on Trump’s Trial Schedule
Florida Judge Declares Trump’s July Trial Schedule is ‘Unrealistic’
Donald Trump was seen in his car as he arrived at Fort Pierce federal court in Florida after Aileen Cannon, the judge in the case, expressed skepticism towards the prosecution’s request for an early trial, with Trump’s legal team proposing alternative dates of August 12 and September 9.
This development comes amid discussions in Fulton County, where Judge Scott McAfee indicated a potential ruling in the efforts to disqualify District Attorney Fani Willis in the racketeering case against Trump and his co-defendants.
“I think we’ve reached the point where I’d like to hear more of how the legal argument apply to what has already been presented, and it may already be possible for me to make a decision without those needing to be material to that decision,” McAfee said.
The discourse around the timing of Trump’s trial, particularly regarding the classified documents case, has intensified. Prosecutors from special counsel Jack Smith’s office have argued that proceeding with the trial before the November presidential election does not contravene the Justice Department’s policy, which typically discourages actions that could influence an election outcome.
Jay Bratt, a prosecutor in Smith’s office, assured the court of their compliance with the justice manual, highlighting the policy’s inapplicability to post-indictments.
“We are in full compliance with the justice manual,” Bratt said during the hearing.
Trump’s legal team has voiced concerns over the proposed trial schedule, emphasizing the challenge of managing simultaneous trials in New York and Florida. Todd Blanche, Trump’s lawyer, pointed out the impracticality of adhering to the prosecutors’ timeline, given Trump’s impending trial in New York related to hush-money payments.
Adopting prosecutors’ schedule, Blanche said, would make it impossible for Trump and his lawyers, some of whom are involved in both cases, to attend both the New York trial and major hearings as he is entitled as a defendant during that period before Cannon.
Cannon’s reservations about the prosecution’s proposed timeline have cast doubt on the feasibility of a July trial. She has yet to set a new trial date, leaving open the possibility of adopting a schedule proposed by either party or determining her own timeline. The judge’s skepticism was evident as she labeled part of the prosecution’s schedule as “unrealistic.”
In the latter part of the hearing, attention shifted to the prosecution’s request for Cannon to reconsider a ruling that would potentially allow Trump to make public FBI documents obtained during discovery.