The trial of the former American president over his use of classified documents has been postponed to a date which has not yet been communicated.
A Florida court has postponed indefinitely the start of the criminal trial of former US President Donald Trump, accused of making negligent use of classified documents, according to a decision rendered Tuesday.
The trial in this case of the Republican presidential candidate in November was supposed to open on May 20, but the federal judge considered this date untenable due to the number of preliminary requests presented to the court. She has not set a new date.
The decision of Judge Aileen Cannon, announced this Tuesday, May 7, makes it less and less likely that Donald Trump will be judged in this case before the presidential election on November 5, for which he will be the Republican Party candidate. against Democratic President Joe Biden.
Preliminary hearings until July 22
While the trial was to open on May 20, following the investigation supervised by special prosecutor Jack Smith, the prosecution and the defense agreed that this date would have to be postponed.
Aileen Cannon, a district judge appointed by Donald Trump in 2020, said the trial could not begin on the date originally scheduled, without setting a new date. Pre-trial hearings will be held until July 22.
Donald Trump faces around 40 federal charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty, for keeping sensitive national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida after his presidential term ended in January 2021 and for obstructing justice’s efforts to recover them.
The former president’s lawyers have in the past called for the trial to take place after the November election, while proposing August 12 as a potential date in response to an injunction from Judge Cannon. Jack Smith proposed a date in July.
Donald Trump, currently on trial in New York in the case of the payment made to Stormy Daniels in 2016 in violation of electoral campaign laws, denounces all legal proceedings against him as political maneuvers.
Judge Aileen Cannon rejected two requests from Donald Trump’s lawyers to withdraw the charges against their client. Other motions are still pending.
