DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,
Jury trial of former US president to begin on May 20, less than six months before presidential election.
The trial of former United States President Donald Trump over charges of mishandling top secret documents will begin in May next year, a judge says.
US District Court Judge Aileen Cannon, who sits in Fort Pierce, Florida, on Friday ordered the jury trial to begin on May 20.
The date is a compromise between a request from prosecutors to set the trial for December 2023 and a request from defence lawyers to schedule it after the November 2024 presidential election.
Trump, 77, is the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination and the trial will be held at the height of the primary campaign to select the party’s flag-bearer for the election.
This is a developing story. More to follow.