A federal district court judge has postponed the start of the trial accusing former President Donald Trump of mishandling classified documents, according to a filing on Tuesday. 

What You Need To Know

  • District Court Judge Aileen Cannon, an appointee of Donald Trump, has postponed the start of classified documents case against the former president

  • The trial was set to begin on May 20; it's not clear if it will begin before November's election

  • Trump, who is seeking a return to the White House in November, faces dozens of felony counts in the case, which accuses him of willfully retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and hampering the government's efforts to retrieve them; he has pleaded not guilty to all charges

  • The move is a victory for Trump, who has successfully pushed back the start dates of multiple criminal proceedings against him

The trial was set to begin on May 20. It is not clear if proceedings will begin ahead of the presidential election in November. 

In her filing, Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed to the federal bench by Trump, wrote that it "would be imprudent" to finalize a trial date wihout key issues resolved and laid out a schedule of hearings and conferences through the end of July.

"The Court also determines that finalization of a trial date at this juncture—before resolution of the myriad and interconnected pre-trial and [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," Cannon wrote. "The Court therefore vacates 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."

Trump, who is seeking a return to the White House in November, faces dozens of felony counts in the case, which accuses him of willfully retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and hampering the government's efforts to retrieve them. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The move is a victory for Trump, who has successfully pushed back the start dates of multiple criminal proceedings against him.

The ex-president faces 91 felony counts across four ciminal cases. One is currently underway, a case in New York accusing Trump of falsifying business records in relation to alleged hush money payments to an adult film star during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Two are in federal court -- the classified documents case in Florida and a case in Washington, D.C., accusing him of seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election -- and both have been delayed. The election subversion case has been postponed as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs Trump's claims of absolute immunity from prosecution for actions taken while serving as president.

And a date has not yet been set in a separate election-related case in Georgia accusing Trump of a conspiracy to overturn his loss to Joe Biden in 2020.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to all of the felony charges against him and denied wrongdoing.