Trump’s first trial date set for the day before Super Tuesday

This artist sketch depicts former President Donald Trump, right, conferring with defense lawyer Todd Blanche, center, during his appearance at the Federal Courthouse in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023. Special Prosecutor Jack Smith sits at left. A judge on Monday, Aug. 28, set a March 4, 2024, trial date for Trump in the federal case in Washington charging the former president with trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, rejecting a defense request to push back the case by years. | Dana Verkouteren via Associated Press

The trial for former President Donald Trump over federal charges for election interference will begin on March 4, 2024, according to a decision by the federal judge overseeing the case.

At a hearing Monday, Judge Tanya Chutkan set the trial to begin one day before Super Tuesday, in the heat of the Republican presidential primary calendar. Trump’s lawyers had asked for a trial date in April 2026, long after the 2024 presidential race concludes, according to The Associated Press.

But at the hearing, Chutkan said there was a “societal interest” in having the case proceed quickly, according to The New York Times. She acknowledged the trial may bump up against Trump’s other cases in state and federal court.

The trial overseen by Chutkan is related to charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by the Department of Justice to look into Trump’s actions around the riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The indictment brought by Smith included four charges: conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, conspiracy against the right to vote, and two counts of obstruction.

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Smith pushed for a January start date for the trial, arguing it was in the public’s interest.

But Trump’s lawyers said they needed more time for discovery, and said moving a trial of this magnitude to court so fast was “unprecedented,” according to ABC News.

But Chutkan said the former president has “considerable resources that every criminal defendant does not usually have,” as she set the court date for March.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump criticized Smith and said he and his team “have been working on this Witch Hunt for almost 3 years, but decided to bring it smack in the middle of Crooked Joe Biden’s Political Opponent’s campaign against him. Election Interference!”

Trump is the first former president to be criminally charged, and he is also the front-runner in the Republican presidential primary race, adding complications to his four criminal indictments.

Trump is facing charges in New York over falsifying business records, in Georgia over election interference and in federal court over election interference and his handling of classified documents.