The federal judge overseeing former U.S. President Donald Trump's classified documents case has set a trial date for May 20, 2024, according to a court document released on Friday.
Trump's lawyers had resisted setting a date but said any trial should take place after the November 2024 U.S. presidential election, in which he is the front-runner for the Republican nomination.
Friday's ruling came from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who sits in Fort Pierce, Florida.
Trump was charged on June 8 with 37 criminal counts related to classified documents and national security secrets he allegedly took from the White House. They were stored at his personal property, showed to individuals without clearance, and later concealed during an investigation. The charges include violations of the Espionage Act, conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements to investigators. Trump has pleaded not guilty.
Read more: Trump indictment: What's possible? What's next?
Federal prosecutors had asked Cannon to schedule the trial for December.
The case is one of several legal woes Trump faces as he campaigns for 2024.
Trump is set to go to trial in Manhattan on March 25 on separate charges that he falsified business records to conceal a hush money payment to a porn star.
He said on Tuesday he had also received a letter saying he is a target of a grand jury investigation into efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election defeat.
A federal judge on Wednesday rejected Trump's request for a new trial after a jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll and awarded her $5 million.
If Trump were to be elected as U.S. president after being convicted of a federal crime, it's not out of the question that he could use his position to pardon himself. Trump could not pardon himself for state crimes, however.
(With input from agencies)
(Cover: Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Turning Point Action USA conference in West Palm Beach, Florida, the U.S., July 15, 2023. /CFP)