Washington: Attorneys for Donald Trump asked a federal judge in Washington to delay a trial on allegations that the former president conspired to rig the results of the 2020 election until years after the election.
The Justice Department's recommendation last week that the trial should start on January 2, 2024 is dramatically rebutted by the suggested April 2026 date. The decision ultimately rests with US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is anticipated to announce at least a potential trial date at a hearing on August 28.
Trump's attorneys claim in a filing that the lengthy delay is necessary due to the "massive" (11.5 million pages) amount of information they must review as well as the unprecedented nature of the case. They claimed that in order to meet the proposed trial date from the Justice Department, they would need to go through about 100,000 pages per day.
"A tower of paper nearly 5,000 feet high would result from printing and stacking 11.5 million pages of documents at a speed of 200 pages per inch, with no space between the pages. That would be eight times the height of the Washington Monument and still have nearly a million pages left over, according to the defence attorneys.
Trump's 2024 schedule was already anticipated to be jam-packed with court appearances and political events.
He is dealing with four criminal cases in four different cities in addition to the presidential primary season. He will go on trial in a New York state case involving an alleged hush money payment to a porn actor on March 25. The trial date of March 4 has been proposed by prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, where Trump was charged earlier this week with attempting to overturn the results of that state's presidential election. However, given the complexity of the extensive racketeering case that involves 19 defendants, it is likely to be postponed.
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The trial date for the allegations that Trump improperly hoarded classified documents and hid them from investigators was set by a federal judge in Florida for May 20.