The indictments against Donald Trump are out. Now comes the legal wrangling to figure out crucial details, including when the trials might be held and in which jurisdictions. On Monday morning, the judge in Trump's federal election interference case set a trial date of March 4, 2024, which just happens to be one day before Super Tuesday. That's much earlier than Trump wanted but later than the preference of special counsel Jack Smith. Monday is also significant in regard to the case against Trump out of Georgia. Former chief of staff Mark Meadows, one of 19 defendants in the case, was testifying in a bid to move the trial out of state court in Fulton County and into federal court, per the Washington Post.
The argument of Meadows is that the alleged crimes are related to his duties while in federal office, out of the jurisdiction of a state court. If he is successful—Trump and others are expected to make the same argument separately—it could hurt prosecutor Fani Willis' case because the federal jury would be selected from a larger pool that includes the suburbs and would presumably be more favorable to Trump, per Axios. Another big question to be resolved in the Georgia case is when it will be heard (already, at least one defendant is demanding a speedy trial, perhaps as early as October), and whether it will encompass all 19 defendants at once or be split into smaller trials.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that the Georgia indictment against Trump includes what the newspaper calls an "Easter egg" that could complicate his argument the case should be heard in federal court. The indictment alleges that his election interference continued into September 2021, long after Joe Biden had assumed the presidency. "By showing the racketeering enterprise continued well beyond (Trump's) time in office, it undercuts any argument that Trump was acting in a governmental capacity to ensure the election was free, fair and accurate," Anthony Michael Kreis, an assistant law professor at Georgia State University, tells the newspaper. (More Georgia indictment stories.)
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