A federal judge ordered that the trial that could result in former President Donald Trump serving life in prison be delayed until May 2024.Last month, prosecutors from special counsel Jack Smith’s office requested that former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial for charges of willful retention of national security information and obstructed justice be delayed until December, citing more time was needed to sort through the evidence.
Now, a federal judge pushed the trial back even further, keeping Trump a free man until next spring, at least.”While the government has taken steps to organize and filter the extensive discovery, no one disagrees that Defendants need adequate time to review and evaluate it on their own accord,” US District Judge Aileen Cannon wrote.Trump, who many believe to have illegally conspired with Russian intelligence during his term, faces 38 counts on seven separate charges, including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct, and making false statements.Trump’s trial was initially set to begin on August 14 and was expected to last roughly two weeks. Given the magnitude of the charges and the sheer volume of cases, special prosecutors understandably requested more time to investigate.
They have since been granted additional time, as Cannon ordered that the trial begin as early as May 20. A pretrial hearing in the case will be held on May 14.Under the new timeline set, the trial would take place in the midst of the 2024 race for the White House, further complicating matters for an already murky Trump campaign.After losing the most recent election to President Biden and allegedly gaining office under illegal means in 2017, Trump is once again expected to represent the Republican party in next year’s election.With 38 federal charges and a potential life sentence directly in his path, though, it is difficult to envision that Trump will be able to gain the type of support required to win the election.
For this reason, Trump and his team desired to have the trial pushed until November 2024, after the election, but will be forced to settle for a May trial, according to CNN.“Today’s order by Judge Cannon is a major setback to the DOJ’s crusade to deny President Trump a fair legal process. The extensive schedule allows President Trump and his legal team to continue fighting this empty hoax,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told CNN on Friday.“Crooked Joe Biden is losing and attempting to use his weaponized DOJ against his top political rival – a disgraceful and un-American abuse of power, Cheung continued. “Crooked Joe will fail and President Trump will win back the White House for the American people.”Despite Trump and his lawyers pretending that no illegal activity occurred during his term, the whispers of potential collusion and treason have grown louder each day since he stepped in the Oval Office.
Perhaps they believed that the power of the presidency would keep him out of trouble, but that myth appears to be dissipating quickly before them.During a recent CNN interview, former President Barack Obama spoke of Trump’s indictment and noted that it is “less than ideal” to see a former world leader be eligible for re-election after such a steep fall from grace.Obama also believes that Trump’s indictment proves that in America, nobody is too powerful for the courts.”The fact that we have a former president having to answer to charges brought by prosecutors does uphold the notion that no one is above the law,” Obama said.
According to the indictment, each one of the charges against Trump carries a maximum fine of $250,000, with maximum prison sentences between five and 20 years, meaning that the outspoken ex-president could serve the rest of his life behind bars.
