Trump lawyers back in DC court as two sides differ over trial date in election subversion case

WASHINGTON — Lawyers for Donald Trump were back in court Monday as a federal judge considers radically conflicting proposals for a trial date in the case accusing him of working to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Special counsel Jack Smith's team has proposed a Jan. 2 trial in federal court in Washington, one of four cities where Trump could face trial as soon as next year. Trump's lawyers, citing the time they say is needed to review 11.5 million pages of documents they've received from prosecutors, have asked for a trial in April 2026 — about a year and a half after the presidential election.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is expected to set at least a tentative trial date during Monday's status conference. She told lawyers at the outset of the court appearance that neither date was acceptable.

“These proposals are obviously very far apart,” she said. “Neither of them is acceptable.”

Another potential agenda item could be additional discussion on any constraints on the Republican former president in publicly discussing evidence in the case. Chutkan said at a hearing earlier this month that she would “take whatever measures are necessary to safeguard the integrity of the case” and warned that “inflammatory” statements about the proceedings could prompt her to move the case more quickly to trial to prevent witness intimidation or jury pool contamination.

The federal election subversion prosecution is one of four criminal cases against Trump. Smith's team has brought a separate federal case accusing him of illegally retaining classified documents at his Florida property, Mar-a-Lago, and refusing to give them back. That case is currently set for trial next May 20.

Trump also faces state cases in New York and Georgia. Manhattan prosecutors have charged him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment to a porn actor who has said she had an extramarital affair with Trump, while prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, have charged Trump and 18 others in a racketeering conspiracy aimed at undoing that state's 2020 election.

Trump, the early front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, surrendered Thursday in that case, posing with a scowling face for the first mug shot in American history of a former U.S. president. He has claimed the investigations of him are politically motivated and are an attempt to damage his chances of winning back the White House.