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Former US President Donald Trump has been charged at the federal level - and is running again for this year's US election
Photo: Alex Brandon / AP
The trial against former US President Donald Trump planned for early March in connection with attempted election fraud has been postponed. A new date is not yet known. The responsible federal judge, Tanya Chutkan, said she would wait until the case returned to her court. The background to the change are still open legal questions in the case.
13 counts of impeachment against Trump
In the 2020 presidential election, the then challenger and subsequent election winner Joe Biden beat Trump in Georgia, among other places, but only by a very narrow margin. Trump is said to have tried to overturn the result in Georgia afterwards. He was therefore charged at the federal level - he is charged with a total of 13 counts. Trump's defense attorneys had argued for the trial to begin in 2026. That would be a long time after the US presidential election this November, for which Trump is again running for the Republicans.
The widely expected postponement is due to an appointment by Trump. In it, the Republican claims he is immune from prosecution for actions he took while serving as president.
Trump is facing a number of legal problems. In all cases, the 77-year-old has protested his innocence and has repeatedly spoken of a politically motivated witch hunt. Many cases are likely to be appealed and will therefore not be finally concluded for years. Some are expected to be referred to the US Supreme Court or have already done so.
lph/Reuters/dpa