Robust courtroom exchange as Trump trial date set is a taste of what’s to come
It was a robust exchange of views and a taste of what’s to come.
“The government’s objective is clear: to deny President Trump and his counsel a fair ability to prepare for trial,” the former president’s lawyer argued in a DC courtroom.
“Donald Trump is not above the law but he’s not below the law…”
He was seeking to persuade a judge that his client’s trial (for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election result) should be set for a date way in the future.
This is not the Georgia state-level case involving Trump and his 18 co-conspirators. This is the federal case in Washington DC with the 6 January riots at its heart.
Trump’s legal team had argued that the 12.8 million pages of evidence amounted to a mountain that would take many, many months to examine in order to prepare adequately for a trial.
They also argued that his schedule (all those other court cases) left little space for a trial in DC soon.
Certainly, a prosecution demand for the trial to begin in January 2024 was entirely unreasonable, they insisted.
“I’m pleading with you, Your Honour,” Trump’s man in court said.
“This is a question of whether or not one man, one United States citizen, gets a fair trial or not.
“We cannot be ready until we have a reasonable amount of time consistent with justice.”
Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama-era appointee, didn’t buy it, though she did agree that the prosecution request for it to begin in January was too soon.
“Setting a trial date does not depend and should not depend on a defendant’s personal and professional obligations… Mr Trump, like any defendant, will have to make the trial date work, regardless of his schedule,” she said.
Molly Gaston, for the prosecution, argued: “The defendant is accused of historic crimes – there is an incredibly strong public interest in a jury’s prompt consideration of the claims in open court.”
She added: “On a nearly daily basis, the defendant posts on social media about the case. He has publicly disparaged witnesses, he had attacked the integrity of the court and the citizens who make up the jury pool. We need to find a time for trial as soon as possible.”
The day the judge chose – 4 March 2024 – is one day before Super Tuesday, presidential primary election day when so many states choose their Republican and Democratic Party candidates for the presidency.
The central charge from supporters of Trump is that by putting the front-running Republican candidate on trial for his alleged interference with the last election, they are in effect interfering with the upcoming one.
As the hearing concluded, Trump’s lawyer wanted one point noted on the record: “We will not be able to provide adequate representation, so there’s no doubt in our judgment that that trial date is inconsistent with President Trump’s right to due process…”