Donald Trump trial: Jack Smith proposes date for Jan. 6 investigation case to begin
by Jack Birle, Breaking News Reporter
August 10, 2023 02:07 PM
| Updated Aug 10, 2023, 02:31 PM
Special counsel Jack Smith is proposing a Jan. 2, 2024, trial date for the case against former President Donald Trump for his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
Smith said he estimates the trial will take "no longer than four to six weeks" in a filing to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday.
The full proposed schedule by Smith does not include a date for motion hearings, but lists Nov. 13, 2023, as the date for parties to submit Motions in Limine, Dec. 8, 2023, as the final pretrial conference, and Dec. 11, 2023, as the jury selection date. Smith argues for the January start date "would vindicate the public’s strong interest in a speedy trial."
"Most importantly, 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," Smith said in the filing.
The proposed trial date would fall four months before the scheduled trial in the classified documents case Smith is prosecuting against Trump in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, May 20, 2024, and less than two weeks before the first contest in the 2024 Republican primary, the Iowa Caucuses, on Jan. 15, 2024.
For the classified documents case, Smith had proposed a Dec. 11, 2023, trial date and Trump has proposed a trial date after the 2024 election. Based on Trump's proposal in the classified documents, it is likely his lawyers will push for the 2020 election trial to occur after the 2024 election as well.
Trump pleaded not guilty at a federal courthouse in Washington earlier this month to the four charges levied against him for allegedly attempting to reverse his loss to President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
more
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/donald-trump-trial-jack-smith-proposes-date-jan-6-investigation-case-begin
