Former US President Donald Trump has reacted angrily to the court’s decision to set his federal election conspiracy trial on March 4 next year, alleging that the term constitutes “election interference”, reports RTE.
Trump, accused of masterminding a conspiracy to overturn his 2020 defeat, wrote that prosecutors deliberately delayed the investigation “to bring it smack in the middle of Crooked Joe Biden’s Political Opponent’s campaign against him. Election Interference!” reports RTE.
A federal judge in Washington has ruled that the former Trump must face an ongoing criminal trial in connection with his 2024 re-election campaign, setting a March 4, 2024, start date.
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan has set a date for a hearing on charges that Trump tried to overturn his 2020 election loss, one of four criminal cases the former president faces.
Special Attorney Jack Smith proposed that the trial begin on January 2, 2024, 11 months before Election Day. Trump’s lawyers asked Judge Chutkan to delay the trial until April 2026.
None of these dates were acceptable, the judge said.
“The public has a right to a prompt and efficient resolution of this matter,” Judge Chutkan said, reports RTE.
Earlier, she said Trump “make the trial date work, regardless of his schedule,” reports RTE.
Trump did not attend Monday’s hearing but later posted on his social media platform Truth that he would file an appeal from that date.
The former president presented the four criminal proceedings as a politically motivated attempt to prevent him from returning to power.
According to yesterday’s court letter, he pleaded not guilty to the three cases and is due to file charges in a fourth case in a Georgian court on September 6.
He did not elaborate on how and when the appeal would be filed, calling the probe politically motivated.
Trump has previously been highly critical of Judge Chutkan, claiming without evidence that he is biased against him.
In Georgia, where Trump faces racketeering and other state charges related to his alleged efforts to reverse his 2020 defeat, District Attorney Fannie Willis asked the court to set a date of March 4, 2024, reports RTE.
One of the 18 co-defendants in the case, his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, is pushing to move the trial to federal court where he could face a more sympathetic jury.
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