Judge Aileen Cannon sets Aug. 14 trial date
But don’t get too excited (CBS News):
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has set an Aug. 14 start date for former President Donald Trump’s trial in the case over his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
In a brief order issued Tuesday, Cannon said the criminal jury trial is set to take place over a two-week period beginning Aug. 14 at the federal district court in Fort Pierce, Florida. That date, however, is likely to change, as Trump’s legal team files requests with the court that could result in the trial’s delay.
Prosecutors suggested in their indictment that Trump’s documents trial might take 21-60 days, not two weeks. So there’s that.
We are told that the Southern District of Florida has a “rocket docket,” but what do I know? Is this normal procedure, or an attempt to keep Trump from rope-a-doping justice yet again with his delay-delay shtick? Not that Cannon would help stop that. Or is it an attempt by Cannon to help Trump clear his legal dance card in advance of his 2024 run for president?
The New York Times suggests the calendar’s “brisk pace suggests that [Cannon] is seeking to avoid any criticism for dragging her feet or for slow-walking the proceeding.”
Peter Carr, a spokesman for Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith, could not confirm that this decision was correct, and not simply a typo. Trump’s defense lawyers did not immediately respond to questions.
Legal scholars have noted that this judge is something of a loose cannon, consistently making puzzling decisions that lean heavily in favor of the president who appointed her in his final months in office.
There will be discovery issue and fights over disclosure and security clearance delays. Axios suggests, “Discovery allows lawyers to go through evidence from both sides, and sometimes there are disputes about which documents each side must disclose. The process can significantly lengthen a trial if there are voluminous records.”
And factors that “constitute grounds for a continuance,” Cannon writes, including those involving the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA).
The Times again:
Brandon L. Van Grack, a former federal prosecutor who has worked on complex criminal matters involving national security, said the trial date was “unlikely to hold” considering that the process of turning over classified evidence to the defense in discovery had not yet begun. Still, he said, Judge Cannon appeared to be showing that she intended to do what she could to push the case to trial quickly.
“It signals that the court is at least trying to do everything it can to move the case along and that it’s important that the case proceed quickly,” Mr. Van Grack said. “Even though it’s unlikely to hold, it’s at least a positive signal — positive in the sense that all parties and the public should want this case to proceed as quickly as possible.”
All Trump wants is for the D.O.J. to go away. With extreme prejudice, if he could.
UPDATE: Ah, I was waiting for Marcy (who actually knows something about this stuff) to weigh in.