Former President Donald Trump cheered Friday when a federal judge set his classified documents trial to start on May 20.
The date ensures the trail will unfold deep into the 2024 primary season when it should be clear if Mr. Trump will be the GOP nominee to take on President Biden.
“The extensive schedule allows President Trump and his legal team to continue fighting this empty hoax,” the Trump campaign said in a statement. “Crooked Joe Biden is losing and attempting to use his weaponized DOJ against his top political rival—a disgraceful and un-American abuse of power. Crooked Joe will fail and President Trump will win back the White House for the American people.”
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon set the date after reviewing requests from prosecutors for a trial around December and a bid from Mr. Trump’s attorneys for an indefinite delay.
Special counsel Jack Smith secured a federal indictment from a grand jury in Florida for Mr. Trump’s alleged storage of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach and efforts to thwart archivists who wanted the papers.
Mr. Trump faces 31 federal counts of willful retention of national defense information and a single count each of conspiracy to obstruct justice; withholding a document or record; corruptly concealing a document or record; concealing a document in a federal investigation; executing a scheme to conceal; and making false statements and representations.
His valet, Walt Nauta, also faces charges related to the movement of documents and representations he made to investigators.
Mr. Trump says he did nothing wrong, citing his powers as a former president, and pleaded not guilty.
In setting a trial date, Judge Cannon said she had to weigh the desire for a speedy trial against the complex nature of the case.
“As the record reveals, discovery in this case is exceedingly voluminous and will require substantial time to review and digest in accordance with defendants’ right to a fair trial,” she wrote in her order.
The date for the trial in Fort Pierce, Florida, was set as the world braces for an expected second federal of Mr. Trump related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol and his actions to overturn the 2020 election results. That indictment is currently in the hands of a grand jury in Washington.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.