Why Trump criminal court calendar could be just one trial before 2024 presidential election
Rather than splitting time between campaigning and appearing in federal court this coming week, Donald Trump will be celebrating his widely expected victories in "Super Tuesday" Republican presidential nominating elections.
Initially, it looked like Trump would be summoned to appear at the Elijah Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, D.C., for the start of his trial on four felony counts rooted in what prosecutors allege was the 45th president's attempt to stay in power after losing the 2020 election.
But that trial has been delayed. For that matter, the legal proceedings related to two other sets of criminal charges against Trump, who has declared his innocence and railed at the cases he says are "election interference," also are stalled.
Which raises the question: Will Trump's court challenges be resolved in 2024? Here is a rundown of where things stand.
1. The People of the State of New York against Donald Trump
Trump was indicted last March in a 34-count felony case alleging a business fraud scheme to cover up a purported hush money payment to a porn star in the weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential election. That case is scheduled to go to trial on March 25.
The judge in the case, Juan Merchan, is reported to have said the trial could last just over a month, which would presumably reveal a verdict by mid-May. By then, the majority of state primary and caucuses would have been concluded and Trump is likely to have won enough delegates to be the Republican presidential nominee.
2. United States of America v. Donald J. Trump, Walt Nauta, Carlos De Oliveira
The second indictment filed against Trump, this one in the Southern District of Florida in June of last year, accuses the former president of keeping government and classified documents and then working with two aides to conceal them and obstruct efforts to retrieve the files.
In a March 1 hearing on the case, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon appeared ready to delay the start of the trial from May 20 to an undetermined date. Federal prosecutors suggested July 8, a week before the GOP convention in Milwaukee, while Trump's lawyers insist the case should be postponed until after the November election.
Cannon is to decide the question, but did not indicate when she might issue an order on a trial date.
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3. United States v. Donald J. Trump
Trump was indicted in August of 2023 on four felony counts related to a conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The case was scheduled to start on March 4. But it was delayed when Trump's lawyers filed a challenge in which they claim U.S. presidents have blanket immunity from prosecution for any actions they take in their official duties while in office.
A three-judge appellate panel ruled unanimously against Trump, but the former president then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court on Feb. 28 said it would decide the question and has set oral arguments for the week of April 22.
4. The State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump et al
The case in Fulton County, Georgia, also filed last August, accuses the former president and 17 others, including lawyer and confidant Rudy Giuliani, of racketeering charges in a conspiracy to overturn the results of the state's presidential voting in 2020.
That case was moving along, and prosecutors procured guilty pleas and public apologies from three defendants, including high profile lawyers Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro and Jenna Ellis.
But the case is stalled, and its future in question, following a high-profile challenge to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
The source of the opposition is that Willis's judgement was impaired and the validity of the case is invalidated by an affair she had with a special prosecutor she appointed to assist in the case, Nathan Wade. The presiding judge, Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, will rule on whether to disqualify Willis and her office.
Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at [email protected]. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Will Trump stand trial this year? An update on his four criminal cases
