Glenn Kirschner Expects ‘Good News’ in Donald Trump, Mark Meadows Hearings

Glenn Kirschner said he expects “good news” on Monday as the hearings for two legal proceedings related to Donald Trump and Mark Meadows are scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia.

“I have a feeling we’re going to have some good news to report about Donald Trump’s trial date in his federal prosecution in D.C.,” the NBC News and MSNBC legal analyst said on YouTube, adding that he expects U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to opt for a speedy trial.

On Monday, Chutkan is expected to consider and potentially set a date for Trump’s trial in relation to the federal case against him linked to his alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and his involvement in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

On the same day, another hearing in Atlanta will consider Mark Meadows’ request to get his prosecution in Georgia—where he’s one of 19 co-defendants, together with the former president, accused of trying to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss in the state—transferred from a state court to a federal court. According to Meadows, the transfer would be justified by his acting within the scope of his official duty as then-White House chief of staff at the time of the alleged election plot.

Former President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up as he arrives at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on August 24, 2023. Judge Tanya Chutkan is expected to set a trial date for Trump’s Washington, D.C., trial on Monday. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The charges against Trump in the D.C. case were filed on August 1. Since then, Trump has been indicted one more time, for a total of four indictments since the beginning of the year. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing, calling the cases against him a political “witch hunt.”

While a trial date has been set for his Manhattan criminal case, involving the alleged payment of hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, no trial date has been determined for any of the federal cases or the state case in Georgia.

That’s expected to change on Monday with Chutkan’s decision.

Special counsel Jack Smith had requested a speedy trial date for Trump’s case, which Smith asked to be held on January 2, 2024. Trump lawyers, on the other hand, have appeared willing to postpone it for as long as possible, asking for the trial to be held on April 2026—well after the November 2024 presidential election which is likely to see the former president facing Joe Biden again.

Trump is currently the frontrunner in the Republican primary polls, with 52 percent of the Republican vote as of August 25, according to polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight.

Kirschner, who teaches criminal law at George Washington University and will be attending the hearing in Washington, D.C., said he’s confident that Chutkan will choose an earlier date for the trial.

“I have a feeling she’ll set an early 2024 trial date, perhaps January 3, perhaps February, March, maybe even April,” Kirschner said.

“But I think she understands that not only does Donald Trump have a right to a speedy trial, which he’s more than happy to waive…but she also understands that we the people have a right to a speedy trial. We deserve to have these charges resolved promptly and well in advance of the next presidential election.”

The legal analyst added that he’ll be also looking out for the judge’s reaction to Trump allegedly violating the condition of his pre-trial release.

Kirschner said that, while Trump was told not to violate any federal or state law, he breached Georgia law by posting that he knew a witness was going to appear before the Georgia state grand jury ahead of his indictment by that same court, saying that the witness shouldn’t have testified.

Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows speaks at FreedomWorks headquarters in Washington, D.C., on November 14, 2022. Meadows is one of the 18 co-conspirators named alongside former President Donald Trump in the Georgia indictment. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

“That violates Georgia state law which prohibits influencing or attempting to influence a witness in an official proceeding,” Kirschner said, adding that he’s curious to see if Chutkan will call Trump out on that.

“I sure as hell hope so,” he said. “Because the integrity, indeed the very legitimacy of the criminal justice system, depends on judges enforcing their orders.”

Moving on to Meadows’ case, Kirschner said he’s interested to see what evidence he’ll produce to back his motion to the federal court.

“Once the evidence plays out, it will probably take some time…before we get an answer,” he said.

He also offered a “couple of little bits of silver linings behind the big dark clouds that it’s Mark Meadows,” including that Judge Steve Jones, who will preside over the hearing on Monday, is likely to get the case “right” and not grant Meadows the motion to transfer the case, and that in, any case, the case would remain a state one.

“It doesn’t magically convert into a federal case. Why is that important? Because a federal pardon won’t work. You can’t pardon Mark Meadows or anybody else who gets convicted in a state case, in violation of state law, even if those state charges get transferred to federal court,” he said.