Federal prosecutors who've brought the 2020 election interference criminal case against Donald Trump are seeking to start to the trial on January 2, 2024, days before the anniversary of the attack on the US Capitol and the Iowa caucuses.
The special counsel's office said in a filing Thursday that its presentation of evidence in the trial would take "no longer than four to six weeks," meaning that Trump may need to spend his weekdays in court before a jury in the crucial first two months of a presidential election year, as primary voting begins for Republicans.
"A January 2 trial date would vindicate the public's strong interest in a speedy trial -- an interest guaranteed by the Constitution and federal law in all cases, but of particular significance here, where the defendant, a former president, is charged with conspiring to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election, obstruct the certification of the election results, and discount citizens' legitimate votes," prosecutors wrote.
The Iowa caucuses are scheduled for January 15.
Judge Tanya Chutkan of the federal court in Washington, DC, ultimately will decide the trial start date, a decision she is likely to make by the end of this month.
Trump's team won't need to tell the court their preferred date for a trial until next week. But in Trump's other federal case related to classified records in Florida after his presidency, they wanted a trial to be put off until after the presidential election. That trial date has been set for May, and Trump has other trial dates in lawsuits and a New York criminal case related to his business records set throughout the first half of next year.
The January 6 federal case may ultimately be a quicker road to trial than the Florida federal documents case, given that Trump is the only defendant at this time and much of what's charged in the indictment is already public and not classified.
Prosecutors say that Trump "was determined to remain in power" after losing the 2020 election, and that he and six unindicted co-conspirators orchestrated a plot to overturn the results on and leading up to January 6, 2021. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
