Former president Donald Trump’s trial date in Florida has been indefinitely postponed, per a court filing from judge Aileen Cannon.
Cannon, a Trump-appointed judge, issued the order on Tuesday evening postponing Trump’s pending trial for willfully mishandling classified documents.
She canceled the 20 May trial date (which had already been logistically impossible), and declared that she would not set a new trial date anytime soon.
“The Court also determines that finalization of a trial date at this juncture – before resolution of the myriad and interconnected pre-trial and CIPA [Classified Information Procedures Act] issues remaining and forthcoming – would be imprudent and inconsistent with the Court’s duty to fully and fairly consider the various pending pre-trial motions before the Court, critical CIPA issues, and additional pretrial and trial preparations necessary to present this case to a jury,” she wrote in the order.
Cannon continued on to say that the court would vacate “the current May 20, 2024, trial date (and associated calendar call), to be reset by separate order following resolution of the matters before the Court, consistent with Defendants’ right to due process and the public’s interest in the fair and efficient administration of justice”.
This comes after months of seemingly deliberate delay, where Cannon has refused to set timelines for necessary pre-trial steps and sided again and again with Trump.
On Monday night, she temporarily froze the deadline for Trump to file his Cipa section 5 notice – the list of classified information he plans to use in his defense in the trial.