Trump trial date set for federal charges over election

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Monday set a trial date of March 4, 2024, for former President Donald Trump’s trial for alleged federal election interference. Special counsel Jack Smith alleges that Trump tried to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Trump denies any wrongdoing. His legal team has tried to push the trial date to April 2026, while Smith’s team sought a trial in January 2024. The March 4 date is in the heat of the Republican primary for the 2024 presidential election.

What’s this stuff about the Georgia trial? In Atlanta, Fulton County prosecutors have charged Trump and 18 associates, such as former chief of staff Mark Meadows, of illegally scheming to overturn the 2020 election. Meadows on Monday argued that his charges should be tried in federal court because the charges have to do with his job as a federal employee. Fulton County prosecutors say Meadow’s actions were political and not part of his job. Meadows took the witness stand on Monday in a hearing about his relationship with Trump.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report in The Stew about the indictment against Trump in Georgia.