Judge sets trial date for next May in Donald Trump’s classified documents case in Florida

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Former United States President Donald Trump attends the UFC 290 event at T-Mobile Arena on July 08, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON – A federal judge in Florida has scheduled a trial date for next May for former President Donald Trump in a case charging him with illegally retaining hundreds of classified documents.

The May 20, 2024, trial date, set Friday by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, was a compromise between a request by prosecutors to set the trial for December and a bid by defense attorneys to delay it indefinitely until shortly after the 2024 presidential election.

If the date goes ahead, it will come close on the heels of a separate trial in New York for Trump on dozens of state charges of falsifying business records in connection with an alleged hush money payment to a porn actor. It also means that the trial won’t begin until deep into the presidential nominating calendar and likely after the Republican nominee is clear — even before that person is officially nominated at the Republican National Convention.

RELATED: Trump pleads not guilty to federal charges he illegally withheld classified documents

Pushing back the trial from the December 11 start date requested by the Justice Department, Cannon wrote that “the Government’s proposed schedule is generally expedited and inconsistent with ensuring a fair trial.” He agreed with defense attorneys that the amount of evidence that needs to be sifted through before trial, including classified information, is “voluminous.”

“The Court finds that the interests of justice served by this proceeding outweigh the best interests of the public and Defendants in a speedy trial,” Cannon wrote.

Trump may face additional trials in the coming year. He revealed this week that he received a letter informing him that he is the target of a separate Justice Department investigation into efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election, an indication that charges are imminent. And prosecutors in Georgia plan to announce charging decisions within weeks in an investigation into attempts by Trump and his allies to sway the vote in that state.

RELATED: Trump valet pleads not guilty in classified documents case

Cannon’s trial will take place at a federal courthouse in Fort Pierce.

It stems from a 38-count indictment last month, filed by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, that accused Trump of knowingly storing classified documents, including top secret records, at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach and conspiring with his valet, Walt Nauta, to hide them from investigators who asked for them back.

Trump and Nauta have both pleaded not guilty.

Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Michael R. Sisak in New York contributed to this report.

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