A federal judge in Washington Monday could set a date for former U.S. President Donald Trump’s trial on charges of plotting to overturn his 2020 election loss.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is set to hold a hearing about the next stages of the proceedings.

Prosecutors have proposed that the trial begin Jan. 2. Trump’s lawyers have requested an April 2026 start date, arguing they need more time to go over documents and that a January trial would conflict with other Trump legal cases.

Trump is charged with four felony counts that include conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.

He pleaded not guilty during a court appearance in early August.

In other cases, Trump is set to go on trial in New York state in late March in connection with a hush money payment made to a porn actor ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

A federal judge in Florida has set a May trial date in a case in which Trump is accused of illegally retaining classified documents at his Florida estate after he left office and obstructing a federal investigation into the matter. Trump has pleaded not guilty in that case as well.

Prosecutors in Georgia have proposed an early March trial date in a case in which Trump and 18 others were indicted on charges of scheming to overturn the results of the 2020 election. A judge has yet to say when that trial will begin.

A federal judge in Atlanta is set to hear arguments Monday from Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff who is among those charged in the Georgia case, that Meadows be allowed to fight the charges in federal courts instead of a state court.

Lawyers for Meadows argue that his actions were taken as part of his duties as chief of staff, while prosecutors say Meadows acted outside of his official duties and that his actions were illegal.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse

Source: VOA

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