Trump facing August 14 trial date in classified documents case

Former US president Donald Trump is facing an August 14 trial date in the case brought against him by the Justice Department, in which he is accused of mishandling classified documents.

The Tuesday order from US District Judge Aileen Cannon is not set in stone, however, as his legal team is expected to lodge challenges to the indictment and the government’s evidence, Bloomberg reported.

Mr Trump stands accused of unlawfully holding on to sensitive national security information after he left the White House in January 2021 and of obstructing the government’s efforts to identify and retrieve the records.

Last week, he pleaded not guilty in a Miami federal courtroom to federal charges of mishandling state secrets.

Lawyers for the former president could file motions asking to dismiss the indictment or challenging the use of certain categories of evidence, which would require more time to litigate before any trial.

They can waive Mr Trump’s right to a speedy trial and ask for more time to prepare, citing the complexity of the case or the need to work around his other court dates and campaign schedule.

Mr Trump has denied wrongdoing and assailed the case as politically motivated.

“It would indeed serve Trump’s political purposes to delay,” Daniel Richman, a professor at Columbia Law School, told Bloomberg.

“But even absent such a strategy, it is hard to imagine this trial date as anything but a scheduling marker that will give way to the extensive motion practice that is inevitable, particularly in cases involving classified material.”

He added that much of the evidence in the case involves classified documents, which mean that Mr Trump’s lawyers in the case will need to get clearance and take time to view the material.

Mr Trump, who also faces a March 25 trial next year in the criminal case against him in New York, has already made several motions that have bogged down the typical pretrial process, including asking for the judge to be removed and that the case be tried in federal court.

Historically, Mr Trump has also sought to delay several civil trials that he has been involved with.

Donald Trump at US federal court in Miami – in pictures

In the assault and defamation case brought against him by New York writer E Jean Carroll – in which he was found liable for $5 million – Mr Trump's legal team used a number of delay tactics.

The judge in the federal case, however, has ordered the trial to begin quickly. Last week, Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed to investigate Mr Trump, asked for a speedy trial in the case.

The former president has attacked Mr Smith and his credentials, calling the special counsel a “deranged lunatic” and blasting him for his involvement in a much-criticised Internal Revenue Service investigation of conservative non-profit groups.

Ms Cannon presided over a fight last year between Mr Trump and prosecutors over the dozens of boxes of documents seized from his Mar-a-Lago resort in August.

Her decision to grant Mr Trump’s request for an independent special master review of the materials delayed the government’s ability to use them for months, until her decision was reversed by a federal appeals court in December.

Mr Trump, who is making another bid for the White House, is the first former president to face federal criminal charges.

Prosecutors claim Mr Trump kept highly sensitive papers at Mar-a-Lago, some of which they say address nuclear programmes and military attack plans. The indictment accuses Mr Trump of 37 counts, with some carrying prison sentences of up to 20 years.

The federal case against the former president, brought by Mr Smith, follows the New York state criminal case set for trial in Manhattan in March. He has been accused of falsifying business records for payments made to an adult film star before the 2016 election.

He also faces potential state charges in Georgia for allegations he interfered in the 2020 election result and federal charges related to the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

Mr Trump has continuously brushed off the many cases brought against him and his companies as politically motivated “witch hunts” and has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

He has accused Democratic President Joe Biden's administration of making him a political target, often taking to to his Truth Social platform to denounce the cases against him.

“One of the saddest days in the history of our country,” Mr Trump wrote after his recent appearance in Miami federal court. “We are a nation in decline.”

Donald Trump indicted in classified documents probe – in pictures