The federal judge in Washington, Tanya Chutkan, set yesterday for March 4, in full primaries towards the presidential elections of 2024, the beginning of the trial against Donald Trump for his role in the assault on the Capitol and other attempts to reverse his defeat in the 2020 elections.
The remark is a setback for the former president, since it marks the beginning of the hearing right in the middle of the Republican electoral process. The date, which Trump will resort to, falls specifically on the eve of Super Tuesday, when most of the primaries of the conservative party take place: on that day, 15 states will vote for delegates to the Republican convention, convened in July in Milwaukee (Wisconsin) and where the presidential candidate will be elected.
Trump now occupies the first position in expected votes for the primaries, with an index close to 50% and a 35% advantage over the second candidate, Ron DeSantis (15%).
However, some polls point to the possibility that the criminal proceedings against the former president will punish him. For now, the damage would be limited to the presidential elections themselves, and not to the primaries. But it is not ruled out that the prospect that judicial problems could cause him to lose the final election in 2024 ends up affecting the primary process – and the Republican debate – as the Wisconsin convention approaches.
Trump is accused in the case of the assault on the Capitol with four charges: conspiracy to defraud the USA; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy against the right to vote.
A mob of thousands of supporters of the then-incumbent president invaded the Capitol on January 6, 2021, with the intention of suspending the proclamation of the results of the presidential elections and thus nullifying Joe Biden's victory. The insurrection, instigated by Trump himself in a previous rally in front of the White House, ended with five deaths during the assault, plus two suicides of agents days later.
The defendant's defense requested a few days ago that the trial be held in April 2026, that is to say, long after the presidential elections. The special prosecutor in the case, Jack Smith, proposed, for his part, that the hearing begin in January. Judge Chutkan yesterday considered that neither date was "acceptable".
The former president's lawyer, John Lauro, assured that the rush of the trial will prevent the defense team from "providing adequate representation" to Trump. "Never in the history of the USA have we seen a case of this magnitude come to trial in just four months," he protested. Lauro's complaint gives an idea of the discomfort of the candidate for re-election before one of the key dates of the judicial viacrucis. As for the most immediate, the calendar continues on September 6 with the reading of charges in the Georgia case, where Trump heads a list of 19 accused of mafia conspiracy to falsify the election there.
The entire campaign will be peppered with trials, including the aforementioned case of the secret papers, from May 20. Trump will continue to make history: as an electoral candidate and king of justice, all at the same time.
