Trump’s Mar-a-Lago classified documents jury trial set to begin on August 14: Florida judge releases preliminary date and schedules two weeks for federal case against former president
Former President Donald Trump‘s trial in the classified documents case has been listed to begin on August 14, a week and a half before the first Republican presidential debate.
Judge Aileen Cannon signed an order for a jury trial that could last two weeks in her courtroom in Fort Pierce, Florida.
However, there are expected to be delays if Trump’s legal team and prosecutors file motions, which are due on July 24.
‘This case is hereby set for a Criminal Jury Trial during the two-week period commencing August 14, 2023, or as soon thereafter as the case may be called,’ the order reads.
The latest development in the case came just hours after Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier he didn’t hand back boxes of sensitive files because he was ‘very busy’.
Donald Trump’s trial in the classified documents case has been listed to begin on August 14
Last week Trump appeared in federal court in Miami and pleaded not guilty to 37 counts related to his mishandling of classified materials including the willful retention of national defense information and making false statements.
The Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon (pictured) has scheduled two weeks in August for the Mar-a-Lago documents jury trial
He told Baier that ‘based on the law’ he had ‘zero’ concerns about being convicted in the case.
The ex-president said he didn’t just give the documents back because he wanted to go through the boxes and ‘get all my personal things out.’
‘And I was very busy, as you’ve sort of seen,’ Trump said. ‘Before I send boxes over I have to take all of my things out. These boxes were interspersed with all sorts of things – golf shirts, clothing, pants, shoes – there were many things.’
Baier pressed Trump on whether the boxes included a U.S. battle plan to attack Iran, which had been mentioned in the indictment.
‘Not that I know of. Not that I know of,’ the former commander-in-chief said. ‘But everything was declassified,’ he argued.
‘And Biden didn’t have the right to do that because he wasn’t president. Nor did Mike Pence, by the way, have the right to do that because he wasn’t president.’
Trump said Monday that he didn’t return classified documents to the National Archives because he hadn’t had time to go through the droves of boxes he took from the White House
The documents found at Mar-a-Lago during the August raid, according to a Department of Justice court filing
Pence has already been let off the hook for the classified documents that were found at his Indiana home among his belongings.
Special Counsel Robert Hur has been charged with looking into whether Biden committed any crimes after classified documents were found in his D.C. office and his Wilmington, Delaware home from his time serving as vice president.
Both Pence and Biden voluntarily gave documents back to the government, whereas many of the charges Trump faces have to do with his resistance to giving them back.
‘No he didn’t!’ Trump claimed when Baier pointed out the current president gave the government his documents.
It will be unprecedented to have a former president and presidential candidate standing trial.
The mid-August date conflicts with a portion of the Iowa State Fair, a traditional campaign stop for candidates.
It could also make Trump’s participation in the first Republican debate more complicated.
The debate is set for August 23 and will take place in Milwaukee – where the GOP will host its 2024 convention.
Baier told viewers Monday that Trump had yet to commit to participating in the first debate. That part of the interview will air on Fox Tuesday night.
Trump has long argued that it doesn’t make sense for him to stand onstage with candidates who are trailing him by more than 50 points.
