WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump, the polling favorite for the 2024 Republican nomination, is seeking to delay his federal trial on charges related to his alleged efforts to stop the peaceful transfer of power and retain the White House following his election loss. of 2020.
In a court document filed Thursday, Trump’s lawyers recommended starting the trial in April 2026, more than two years after the date prosecutors intend to start proceedings.
The election interference lawsuit brought against Trump in the nation’s capital by special counsel Jack Smith is one of four criminal cases the former president is now facing, and one of two brought federally by Justice Department prosecutors. .
In a packed second-floor courtroom just a few hundred feet from the U.S. Capitol, Trump pleaded not guilty earlier this month to four counts in the case: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstructing an official procedure, obstruction and conspiracy against the right to vote and the counting of the vote.
US District Judge Tonya Chutkan, who warned Trump that he is a “criminal defendant” who has “restrictions like any other defendant,” asked each side to propose trial dates.
Last week, Smith’s team requested that jury selection begin in December and that the trial begin just after the holiday break, on January 2, 2024.
Chutkan is expected to set a trial date at a hearing on the matter on August 28. Trump is not required to attend in person.
