Judge Aileen Cannon doesn’t set immediate date for Trump docs trial

A federal judge made no immediate decision on when former President Donald Trump’s classified documents trial would begin, but signaled it may not start until next year during a hearing Tuesday.

Prosecutors and lawyers for Trump, 77, battled over a potential trial date in front of US District Judge Aileen Cannon, who said she would issue a written order following the nearly two-hour hearing in Florida.

Trump’s lawyers pushed for an indefinite delay, arguing the GOP firebrand couldn’t get a fair trial ahead of the 2024 election, in which he’s seeking the Oval Office again after losing in 2020 to Joe Biden.

His attorneys also said they needed more time to review piles of evidence in what they described as a complex case.

If Cannon does issue a trial date, Trump’s team urged her to set it for “mid-November or later of next year,” ABC News reported.

But prosecutors with special counsel Jack Smith want the trial to start in mid-December of this year.

They insisted the case was straightforward and a lengthy delay wasn’t necessary. They also said Trump’s run for president should not affect when the trial gets underway.

“He should be treated like everyone else,” prosecutor David Harbach said in court.

Trump is facing criminal charges over his alleged mishandling of classified documents that he kept stashed away at Mar-a-Lago.

While Trump’s co-defendant, body man Walt Nauta, attended the hearing, the former commander in chief skipped out on it, instead traveling to Iowa where he’ll tape a town hall with Fox News host Sean Hannity.

Trump and Nauta both pleaded not guilty to a 38-count indictment earlier this year. They’re accused of conspiring to hide classified documents from the Justice Department that were pulled from the White House after Trump left office.

Cannon originally scheduled the trial to begin on Aug. 14, but both sides requested the date be pushed back.

She told Trump’s lawyers they needed to provide firmer answers on scheduling, at one point saying, “need to set a schedule.”

Cannon also appeared to question the prosecutors’ target date of mid-December, asking if they could point to similar cases involving classified information that went to trial in less than six months. Prosecutor Jay Bratt replied he could not.

Tuesday’s hearing comes hours after Trump revealed that his attorneys told him he is the target of Smith’s other probe into the events surrounding the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump also faces a 34-count in Manhattan over alleged falsifying business records tied to hush money payments leading up to the 2016 presidential election.

With Post wires