Florida judge wants trial in Trump documents case to begin as early as mid-August

A federal judge in Florida has ordered that a jury trial in the prosecution of former President Donald Trump over alleged mishandling of classified material should begin as early as August 14.

Judge Aileen Cannon, a federal judge in South Florida appointed by Trump, set the ambitious timetable, ordering pre-trial motions to be filed by July 24. Those motions could delay the beginning of the trial well beyond August. But the speed of Cannon’s proposed trial schedule may complicate efforts by Trump’s legal team to delay the proceedings with extensive pre-trial litigation.

Cannon has come under scrutiny over her past decisions involving the federal investigation into the president’s handling of documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort, raising questions among legal experts whether she had expressed favoritism toward Trump from the bench.

The trial would take place at the Fort Pierce federal courthouse, about 70 miles north of West Palm Beach.

Trump faces 37 felony counts of mishandling and illegally retaining classified material, including some of the most sensitive secrets in the U.S. government such as details on the U.S. nuclear arsenal, attack plans against American adversaries and vulnerabilities to the national security of the United States.