Trump's lawyers propose 2026 trial date in federal election case

[August 18, 2023]  By Jacqueline Thomsen
 
(Reuters) -Lawyers for Donald Trump on Thursday asked a federal judge in Washington to schedule an April 2026 trial for the former president, on federal charges that he allegedly sought to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. 

Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 29, 2023. REUTERS/Lindsay DeDario/File Photo

That requested date would place the trial after the November 2024 U.S. election, in which Trump is the front-runner for the Republican nomination.

"The public interest lies in justice and fair trial, not a rush to judgment," Trump's attorneys wrote on Thursday.

U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith, whose office is prosecuting the federal 2020 election case against Trump, last Thursday asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to schedule a trial to start on Jan. 2, 2024. That date is two weeks before the first votes are cast in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.

A spokesperson for Smith on Thursday declined to comment beyond that earlier court filing.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward, Dan Whitcomb and Jacqueline ThomsenEditing by Don Durfee and Deepa Babington)

[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.