WASHINGTON (AP) β Lawyers for were back in court Monday as a federal judge considers radically conflicting proposals for a trial date in the case accusing him of working to in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Special counsel Jack Smith's team has proposed a Jan. 2 trial in federal court in Washington, one of four cities where Trump could face trial as soon as next year. Trump's lawyers, citing the time they say is needed to review they've received from prosecutors, have asked for a trial in April 2026 β about a year and a half after the presidential election.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is expected to set at least a tentative trial date during Monday's status conference. She told lawyers at the outset of the court appearance that neither date was acceptable.
βThese proposals are obviously very far apart,β she said. βNeither of them is acceptable.β
Another potential agenda item could be additional discussion on any constraints on the Republican former president in publicly discussing evidence in the case. earlier this month that she would βtake whatever measures are necessary to safeguard the integrity of the caseβ and warned that βinflammatoryβ statements about the proceedings could prompt her to move the case more quickly to trial to prevent witness intimidation or jury pool contamination.
The federal election subversion prosecution is one of four criminal cases against Trump. Smith's team has brought a separate federal case accusing him of , Mar-a-Lago, and refusing to give them back. That case is currently set for trial next May 20.
Trump also faces state cases in New York and Georgia. with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment to a porn actor who has said she had an extramarital affair with Trump, while prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, have charged in a racketeering conspiracy aimed at undoing that state's 2020 election.
Trump, for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, surrendered Thursday in that case, in American history of a former U.S. president. He has claimed the investigations of him are politically motivated and are an attempt to damage his chances of winning back the White House.
Eric Tucker, Lindsay Whitehurst And Michael Kunzelman, The Associated Press
