Geoff: Good evening and welcome
to the newshour.
A judge ordered that the trial
in the classified documents case
against Donald Trump begin on
may 20, 2024.
The district judge rejected the
bid to try the case in December.
As well as the request for a
delay until after the election.
The trial is one of many legal
obligations Mr. Trump faces
going into the election cycle.
Including federal and straight
probes related to efforts to
overturn the 2020 election.
Let's turn to Jessica Roth,
professor of law at Cardozo
school of law.
What is your assessment of this
may trial date?
Which side does this benefit?
>> Nobody got what they wanted.
Trump one of the trial postponed
indefinitely.
It was a defeat for him.
The doj did not get what it
wanted.
They wanted to try the case in
December.
The may date is reasonable.
It is consistent with other
similar cases.
The reasoning the judge
explained setting the new
schedule was legally sound given
the extent of the discovery and
the legal issues that will be
have to indicated with
classified information.
I think it's important in the
context of this case.
After the search of mar-a-lago
before the charges were filed,
they were not legally sound.
They were reversed by the
appellate court.
She was showing preferential
treatment to the former
president.
I think the fact that the ruling
was legally sound is
significant.
The next test will be whether
the judge holds the defense to
the schedule she has set or
whether she will let it slip
further.
Geoff: This date falls into the
2024 election season.
State primaries will be finished
by that point.
There will likely be a nominee.
It could be Donald Trump.
How could that affect the case?
>> The judge reserved judgment
on if she would take into
consideration the status of
former president trump as a
future nominee and scheduling
considerations.
She did not have to address that
now.
She left open the door that if
he is likely nominee, his
lawyers could raise the issue of
whether or not the election
schedule made it a hardship for
him to have the trial in may or
make it hard to seat an unbiased
jury.
It remains to be seen if she
would look at those arguments at
that point.
If the trial were to slip past
the general election, there is a
prospect it wouldn't happen all.
If he became president again, he
would likely direct his attorney
general to drop the prosecution.
There is a lot at stake for when
this trial happens.
The charges include the willful
retention of defense
information.
It also may impact whether or
not he is held accountable in a
court of law for this conduct.
Geoff: Thank you so much for
your insight.