WASHINGTON — President Joe’s government Biden asked a judge on Thursday to set January 2 as the date to start the trial of former President Donald Trump in the case in which he is accused of alleged “conspiracy” to annul the electoral result in 2020.
The Justice Department, through special counsel Jack Smith, requested the start of the trial four days before the anniversary of the riots on January 6, 2021 at the federal Capitol, led by Trump supporters, a fact that the Biden government seeks to hold accountable. to Trump and judge months before the presidential elections in which the Democrat is running for re-election.
Coincidentally, the date proposed by the Department of Justice led by a Biden ally, Merrick Garland, also precedes the first days of voting in the Republican internal election, which begins with the caucuses scheduled for January 15 in Iowa. However, the Department of Justice has emphasized that it is not about political persecution against Trump and that justice is “impartial” and is not used as a tool against political opponents.
Trump reacted to the proposed trial date and posted on his platform TruthSocial that “only an unrealistic lunatic would request that date, a day after New Year’s, and maximum election interference with Iowa.”
quick judgment
Prosecutors have indicated in court documents that they want the case to go to trial in federal court in Washington soon, setting the stage for a potential battle with defense attorneys who have already hinted they will try to slow down the process. Smith’s team says that the presentation of arguments by the government should not take more than four to six weeks.
“The January 2 date would be a vindication of the public’s enormous interest in a speedy trial, an interest guaranteed by the Constitution and federal law in all cases, but of particular importance in this one, in which the accused, a former president.” , indicated the prosecutors in their brief.
Trump’s lawyers have not submitted their proposed date. The judge is expected to set a date at a hearing scheduled for August 28.
Trump already has a court date in the midst of next year’s presidential primary season, with a trial scheduled for March 25 in a separate case in New York over alleged irregular payments during the 2016 campaign to a porn actress, who He claims he had a sexual relationship with the former president 15 years ago. The former president must appear for trial in May in another case also initiated by Smith about the handling of confidential documents found at his Mar-a-Lago farm in Palm Beach, Florida.
The charges in Washington include conspiracy to defraud the United States in what prosecutors describe a multi-week scheme to “subvert” the will of voters and cling to power after losing the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump, who pleaded not guilty last week, says the investigation is politically motivated. His defense team has indicated that he will argue that he was following the advice of his lawyers in 2020 and that he had the right to challenge an election that he considered rigged.
The former president has already said that he will try to have the case surrounding the 2020 elections transferred to a court outside of Washington, in order to have access to a fair trial in a city with an overwhelming Democratic majority, which voted by a wide margin in favor of Biden.
FOUNTAIN: With information from AP and Europa Press
