Here’s where Trump’s 4 trials currently stand with under 8 months to go before election day

16 March 2024

Former President Donald Trump's attempts to sideline his criminal prosecutions until after the election have succeeded so far. But with eight more months until November, there's still plenty of time for Trump to receive a verdict in one and potentially multiple trials depending on several factors.

Prior to this week, only one of the ex-president's four upcoming criminal trials had a definitive date on the calendar. But after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's original date of March 25 was pushed back by 30 days, the Manhattan trial will likely be held in mid to late-April. Politico legal reporters Kyle Cheney, Josh Gerstein and Erica Orden delved into where all of the ex-president's four upcoming criminal trials — in which he's defending himself from a total of 91 felony charges — stand as of this weekend.

1. The hush money trial in New York

Bragg was the first prosecutor to indict a former US president last spring, when he charged Trump with nearly three dozen felony counts of falsifying business records. Bragg characterized the payments to women who said they had extramarital affairs with the businessman and TV personality as illegal campaign contributions, escalating them from misdemeanors to felonies.

However, the DOJ released approximately 100,000 pages of documents recently in response to a January 2024 request from Trump's legal team to have access to records pertaining to the 2018 federal investigation of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen. The ex-president's lawyers wanted a 90-day delay to review the documents, but Judge Juan Merchan opted to instead postpone the trial by 30 days after Bragg proposed the compromise, meaning it won't be until at least mid-April when the trial takes place. On March 25, Merchan has a hearing scheduled to hear both sides in a dispute about the document dump.

2. The federal classified documents trial in Florida

Trump is facing 40 felony counts for allegedly mishandling classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence. The trial — which will be held in US District Court in the Southern District of Florida — had a previously scheduled date of May 20, but Judge Aileen Cannon officially removed that trial date from the calendar as she continues to plod through the pre-trial process. She recently struck down one of Trump's motions to dismiss the case, after he unsuccessfully argued that the application of the Espionage Act was too broad to pass muster.

Cannon has not yet ruled on the other motion, but if she strikes it, a date could theoretically be set at any time afterward. Smith's team has asked for a trial date of July 8, which Politico noted would be a week before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There are still several pre-trial matters to sort out though regarding the potential redacting of witness' names, meaning July may not be in the cards. Trump's team has suggested the trial begin on August 12.

3. The federal election interference trial in Washington, DC

Jack Smith was originally scheduled to begin trial proceedings against Trump in DC on March 4, but US District Judge Tanya Chutkan has paused proceedings while Trump made his argument for absolute broad presidential immunity to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. After a DC Circuit panel roundly rejected his argument, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) agreed to hear it, and oral arguments are scheduled for late April. SCOTUS may not issue its ruling until June, when its current term ends.

Should Trump's immunity argument be rejected by SCOTUS, Chutkan would then set a trial date. She previously promised both sides that they would get up to three months to prepare for trial, meaning a September date could be possible assuming the case is back in Chutkan's court by June. However, SCOTUS is also hearing an argument by a January 6 defendant charged with the same crime Smith is prosecuting Trump for (corruptly obstructing an official government proceeding). Should justices rule in the defendant's favor, that would significantly weaken Smith's original indictment, quashing two of the four felony counts he brought against Trump.

4. The Fulton County election interference trial in Georgia

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has had a busy several weeks in court after defense attorneys sidelined her prosecution by alleging she was in an inappropriate relationship with her subordinate, special prosecutor Nathan Wade. But on Friday, Judge Scott McAfee ruled Willis could stay on the case, provided Wade stepped down from the investigation. Wade tendered his resignation and Willis accepted, meaning the RICO prosecution of Trump and more than a dozen co-defendants is officially underway again.

Willis' team previously said that their trial would take roughly four months given the time needed to lay out the evidence against all of the defendants they're simultaneously prosecuting. The prosecution had asked for a trial in August, but that was before the Manhattan trial was delayed until April, which Bragg has said could take up to six weeks. That means it could potentially be June before a verdict is reached. And depending on the other two federal trials, Willis may not get to bring her case prior to election day.

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