Judge orders Trump classified documents trial in Florida to begin in May 2024

July 21st, 2023

Former President Donald Trump speaks at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., on June 13 after pleading not guilty in a Miami courtroom earlier in the day to mishandling classified documents. (Andrew Harnik/AP)
Andrew Harnik / Andrew Harnik

A federal judge in Florida says former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial on charges of withholding and concealing classified and top-secret documents will begin on May 20.

The trial will take place in Ft. Pierce, Fla., before U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon.

Trump faces 37 counts, including more than 30 violations of the Espionage Act, over allegations of withholding documents related to national security. He’s also charged, along with aide Walt Nauta, with making false statements and conspiring to obstruct justice.

Both Trump and Nauta have pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The former president’s lawyers had been asking for the trial to be delayed until late next year. They said Trump’s busy schedule — he’s running for president again and juggling several lawsuits and two criminal indictments — necessitated waiting until after the 2024 presidential election.

In court, Trump lawyer Todd Blanche told the judge his client deserved special consideration. “It is intellectually dishonest to stand up in front of this court and say this case is like any other,” Blanche said. “It is not.”

Trump’s defense team also said the sheer volume of material that will be entered as evidence, which includes more than a million pages of documents, and the legal complexity of the case were reasons for an extended trial schedule.

Prosecutors working with special counsel Jack Smith had wanted an early trial date, in December. In his argument before Judge Cannon, prosecutor David Harbach said there was no reason Trump should receive special treatment.

“Mr. Trump is not the president, he’s a private citizen indicted by a grand jury,” Harbach said. He also rejected an assertion by Trump’s lawyers that publicity and press coverage surrounding the trial is another reason for it to be delayed.

Publicity surrounding Trump, Harbach said, is “chronic and almost permanent.”