U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has decided to put off former President Donald Trump’s trial indefinitely.
This trial was supposed to look into whether Trump improperly kept secret government documents at his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, after he was president. The trial was originally planned for May 20, but now, there’s no new date in sight.
The decision to delay comes as there are many unresolved issues and arguments between Trump’s lawyers and Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is in charge of the case.
Judge Cannon ruled that setting a new trial date at this juncture would be “imprudent and inconsistent” with the court’s duties to consider the issues fully and fairly.
Legal analysts have noted the slow progress in resolving these matters, which include disputes over the classification levels of the documents and procedural fairness.
This postponement means it is increasingly unlikely that the trial will commence before the 2024 Presidential election, where Trump is a Republican candidate.
In parallel to the Florida case, Trump faces additional legal challenges on multiple fronts. In Washington D.C., his trial for attempting to overturn the 2020 election results is also on hold, pending a Supreme Court decision regarding presidential immunity, which could significantly impact the case.
Moreover, Trump is contending with criminal charges in New York related to hush money payments and in Georgia for efforts to interfere with the 2020 election results.
The strategic delays in these cases could benefit Trump if he wins the upcoming election, potentially allowing him to influence the continuation of these federal and state cases.
By not setting a new trial date, Judge Cannon provides an opportunity for other judges handling Trump’s legal cases — U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington and Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee in Georgia — to plan their own trials for this summer or fall. However, it’s not certain if these judges will be ready to proceed with their cases soon.
The federal case that Judge Chutkan is handling is paused while the Supreme Court decides if Trump is legally protected from these charges, a decision that could seriously affect Smith’s case.
Judge McAfee hasn’t shared his schedule yet, although Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is pushing for the trial to begin in August.