Last week Donald Trump was arraigned, again. It was his second indictment in less than two months, but it involved an even more serious case than the first. The historic one in April concerned hush money payments; the latest involved his alleged mishandling of classified government documents. But if you figured the trial wouldn’t begin for a good long while, think again.
As per The Daily Beast, U.S. District Judge Aileen A. Cannon set the first court date on August 15. That’s 55 days away — less than two months from this writing. In so doing, Cannon has created a “rocket docket” that will speed the trial through the system — and give both prosecutors and the defense not a whole lot of time to prepare for one of the biggest courtroom battles in U.S. history.
For contest, most federal trials take up to a year to kick off, with both sides meticulously planning for the big showdown. Rushing the Trump case to trial may wind up working in his favor. For one thing, when it’s over, guilty or not, it will still give him plenty of time to campaign for the 2024 election — which he could always do from the slammer.
As it happens, Cannon is a Trump appointee, and legal scholars consider her something of a loose cannon. In her short time on the bench, she’s made questionable decisions that favor Trump. For instance, she inserted herself into the initial search of Mar-a-Lago, gumming up the investigation with red tape. She’s also inexperienced, having spent only 14 days overseeing a mere four criminal trials — not exactly someone would assign to a case of this magnitude, not to mention involving this defendant.
Mind you, this doesn’t mean Trump will magically walk away a free man. Fifty-five days is plenty of time for him to keep basically confessing to the crime with which he’s been charged.
(Via The Daily Beast)