Judge says proposed date for Trump trial ‘unrealistic’

miami: A federal judge in Florida held a hearing to set a date for Donald Trump’s trial on charges of mishandling classified documents and said a July 8 start proposed by prosecutors was unlikely.

Trump, 77, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, attended the hearing during which his attorneys argued that the trial should not be held until after the November election.

Lawyers for the former president said that if District Judge Aileen Cannon does insist on setting a date, the trial should begin on Aug 12.

Special counsel Jack Smith, who brought the charges against the former president, had proposed the July 8 start date but Cannon, during Friday’s hearing, said that was “unrealistic” given all of the pretrial motions in the case.

The hearing, held in Fort Pierce, about 200km north of Miami, concluded without Cannon setting a date for the start of the trial.

Trump pleaded not guilty in June to charges of unlawfully retaining national defence information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements.

He kept the classified files – which included records from the Pentagon, CIA and National Security Agency – unsecured at his Mar-a-lago home in Florida and thwarted official efforts to retrieve them, according to the indictment.

Lawyers for the former president have sought repeatedly to delay his various court cases until after the November election, when Trump could potentially have the federal charges against him dropped if he wins.

Trump also faces federal charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election won by Democrat Joe Biden.

That trial had been scheduled to begin in Washington next week, but has been put on hold while the Supreme Court hears Trump’s claim that as a former president he is immune from prosecution.