Judge Aileen Cannon set a date for Donald Trump‘s trial in the federal case brought against him by special counsel Jack Smith.
The trial is set to begin on August 14, 2023 and the parties must file all pre-trial motions by July 24, according to the order released Tuesday. The former president is facing 37 criminal counts, including willful retention of national-defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and making false statements. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Cannon has set aside two weeks for the trial to take place. The prosecution had asked for three.
The trial will not be held in Miami, where Trump was arraigned, but will instead be held further north in Fort Pierce, Florida, where Cannon’s home courthouse is located. The location is significant as jurors are selected from the counties nearest the courthouse.
The schedule is an aggressive one but it is highly likely that the trial date will be pushed back as Cannon negotiates particulars with Trump’s attorneys and the Department of Justice. Two of Trump’s lawyers are seeking security clearance from the DOJ in an expedited fashion because of the classified nature of the documents.
On Monday, Cannon’s colleague on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida ordered Trump and his co-defendant and aide Walt Nauta not to release evidence made available during discovery.
Trump has consistently denied wrongdoing and has called the investigation a “political persecution.” The former president appeared on Fox News Tuesday and defended his actions to Bret Baier.
The anchor asked him why Trump didn’t just hand over the records, to which the former president responded: “I want to go through the boxes and get my personal things out. I don’t want to hand that over to [the National Archives and Records Administration] yet. And I was very busy as you’ve sort of seen.”
Asked if he has any worries about the charges, Trump said: “Based on the law, zero.”