Lawyers for former President Donald Trump have proposed April 2026 as the date to start the trial in the case involving his efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election.
According to a 16-page court filing (pdf) on Aug. 17, President Trump’s lawyers rejected special counsel Jack Smith’s proposed date of Jan. 2, 2024, arguing that he “seeks a trial calendar more rapid than most no-document misdemeanors, requesting just four months from the beginning of discovery to jury selection.”
“The government’s objective is clear: to deny President Trump and his counsel a fair ability to prepare for trial. The Court should deny the government’s request,” the lawyers wrote. “The public interest lies in justice and fair trial, not a rush to judgment.”
Mr. Smith’s proposed date is about two weeks before the first-in-the-nation Republican presidential nomination caucus in Iowa. President Trump team’s suggested date would come long after next year’s presidential election.
The decision is up to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is expected to set a trial date during a hearing on Aug. 28.
To support their arguments for a 2026 trial date, President Trump’s lawyers pointed to the “enormous and growing” volume of materials that need to be reviewed, the unusual and complex nature of the case, and the former president’s busy legal calendar for 2024.
“This case is not just complex or unusual. It is terra incognita,” the lawyers wrote. “No president has ever been charged with a crime for conduct committed while in office. No major party presidential candidate has ever been charged while in the middle of a campaign—and certainly not by a Justice Department serving his opponent.
“These and numerous other issues will be questions of first impression, requiring significant time for the parties to consider and brief, and for the Court to resolve.”
‘11.5 Million Pages’
There are over 11.5 million pages of discovery from Mr. Smith’s office, according to the lawyers.
“To put 11.5 million pages in some perspective, we began downloading the government’s initial production on August 13, 2023. Two days later, it was still downloading,” they wrote.
By Frank Fang
