The federal government is seeking to have the prosecution of former President Donald Trump completed just prior to one of the most consequential days of the Republican primary process.
In a court filing, Special Counsel Jack Smith has asked the court to begin Trump’s trial, in a case surrounding alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, to begin on Jan. 2 of next year.
Citing the need for the “public’s strong interest in a speedy trial,” federal prosecutors outlined a total timeline for the trial to end within six weeks by Feb. 13. Even with delays by defense attorneys presenting their case, the trial could wrap by Mar. 5, which is Super Tuesday, the day on which most states are voting and allotting delegates in their primary elections.
Trump's DC case: the Feds have proposed that the trial begins on January 2, 2024. They estimate that the prosecution's case will take 4-6 weeks to present to a jury.
They specifically cite the public’s strong interest in a speedy trial in the case of a former president who "is… pic.twitter.com/VRmpA5Dlgh
— Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) August 10, 2023
While the 2024 primary calendar leads off with the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 15, followed by the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 23, and the Nevada, South Carolina and Michigan primaries in February, more than a dozen states are holding their primary election next year on Super Tuesday.
Depending on the speed of the trial, the case could potentially be wrapped up even before the Michigan and South Carolina primaries.
During an appearance on Fox Business, Canary CEO Dan Eberhart said he believes that conservatives will ultimately rally behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and push Trump out of the race before Super Tuesday.
Eberhart said:
Look, the the indictments are a sugar high. And it gets primary voters and Republican party voters excited to kind of defend the guy. But at the same time, look, this is about the early states and the more that voters get to know Governor DeSantis and his pro-growth and conservative values, and his time spent as a veteran, the more people get to know that in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, the Trump support is a melting ice cube and it’s gonna continue to melt.
Look, Trump’s 50 or 55 percent nationally is 45 percent in Iowa and New Hampshire, and it’s a melting ice cube. None of the undecideds are gonna break towards Donald Trump. They’re gonna go somewhere else. And I think the more people learn about Governor DeSantis and his record, the more he’s gonna pick up steam and he’s gonna build momentum as we go into this.
And I think that this is gonna look an awful lot differently when people vote and right before the Iowa Caucus goes down.
