Former President Donald Trump has been indicted by a federal grand jury on four charges related to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Will the case go to trial before the 2024 election? Legal analysts appearing on “Dan Abrams Live” think that’s a long shot.
“I don’t think there’s a chance in the world that this case gets tried before the election,” said Michael J. Moore, a former U.S. attorney in the middle district of Georgia.
Moore added: “I just think there’s going to be more appeals going back and forth to the appellate courts than an eight-lane expressway.”
Like in most cases, Aitan Goelman, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the southern district of New York, thinks the prosecution and defense will be pushing for different timelines.
“They’ll (prosecutors) be motivated to try to get it to trial. Trump’s team will be motivated to try to stretch it out as long as possible,” Goelman explained.
NewsNation host Dan Abrams thinks the case could go to trial ahead of the 2024 election, and Renato Mariotti, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the northern district of Illinois, says it’s a possibility.
“I don’t expect it. I think it’s possible that the judge is going to be motivated to get it done before the election,” Mariotti said. “Whether that actually happens is going to depend on a number of factors, but it’s certainly a possibility.”
Former President Trump faces the following charges in his latest indictment: One count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, one count each of obstructing an official proceeding and conspiring to do so, and one count of conspiracy against rights.
The charges come after the House Jan. 6 Committee in December ended its investigation into the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol by recommending charges against Trump.
Federal prosecutors say Trump’s “knowingly false claims” created an atmosphere of “mistrust and anger” that damaged the public’s faith in the 2020 election.
“For more than two months following election day on November 3, 2020, the Defendant spread lies that there had been an outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that he had actually won,” the indictment reads. “These claims were false, and the Defendant knew that they were false.”
Trump is leading most national polling for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential race. His campaign called the indictment the “latest chapter in the continued pathetic attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their weaponized Department of Justice to interfere with the 2024 Presidential Election.”
Trump, who denies any wrongdoing, has been summoned to appear before Magistrate Judge Moxila A. Upadhyaya at the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse in Washington, D.C. at 4 p.m. Thursday. Attorneys may discuss future court dates at this hearing.