Former US President Donald Trump’s lawyers proposed April 2026 as his trial date on the state charges accusing him of interfering with the 2020 US presidential elections and forging related business records.
The request comes as lead prosecutor Jack Smith is attempting to have the case begin on January 2.
It is one of four criminal cases that Trump is now dealing with in the midst of his campaign for the White House.
Trump’s proposal came after Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis put forward March 2024 trial date.
“The public interest lies in justice and fair trial, not a rush to judgment”, Trump’s lawyers said in their filing.
The lawyers argued that the amount of documents in the case would require months to process.
“Assuming we could begin reviewing the documents today, we would need to proceed at a pace of 99,762 pages per day to finish the government’s initial production by its proposed date for jury selection,” they said.
“That is the entirety of Tolstoy’s War and Peace, cover to cover, 78 times a day, every day, from now until jury selection.”
In addition, Judge Tanya Chutkan is set to decide the trial date on August 28.
“The government’s proposed (January 2) trial date represents an appropriate balance of the defendant’s right to prepare a defense and the public’s strong interest in a speedy trial in the case,” Smith previously said in a court filing asking for the January start.
The case is the most serious of four criminal investigations that have led to dozens of felony charges against Trump, including accusations that he attempted to circumvent campaign finance laws by concealing payments to a porn star.
The government also charges Trump with mishandling several classified documents including military strategies and nuclear secrets, that he stole from the White House when he left office and conspiring with his aides to hide those documents from investigators.
In an effort to prevent Trump’s apparent political influence, Smith was appointed as a special counsel in the federal election conspiracy case by Joe Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland.
Trump and his team have decried the prosecution as politically biased.
“The incumbent administration has targeted its primary political opponent — and a leading candidate in the upcoming presidential election — with criminal prosecution”, his lawyers said in their Thursday filing.
Two more of Trump’s trials have already been scheduled to begin before the November 2024 election at the state level in New York and the federal level in Florida, in March and May, respectively.
However, his Georgia election-related racketeering charges have not yet had a trial date set.
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