By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A federal judge on Monday set March 4, 2024, as the start date for former U.S. President Donald Trump’s criminal trial on charges of allegedly trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat in a failed bid to keep himself in power.
This trial date will be just one day before Super Tuesday when voters from over a dozen will hold their premieres.
In opposition to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s plan to begin the trial on January 2, 2024 — just before the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses are due to begin — Trump’s legal team pushed for an April 2026 start date. Both proposals were denied by Obama appointee Tanya Chutkan, a U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia.
“The public has a right to a prompt and efficient resolution of this matter,” U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Mark Porter)
