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       The federal judge presiding over Donald Trump’s indictment for allegedly mishandling classified documents has scheduled his trial to start in late May of next year, rejecting claims by the former president’s attorneys that a fair trial could only be held after the 2024 election — as well as the Justice Department’s request to start as soon as December.

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       U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon heard arguments from both sides on Tuesday and said she would issue her decision promptly. On Friday, she scheduled a jury trial to begin in the Fort Pierce Division of the U.S. District Court in Southern Florida during the two-week period that begins May 20, 2024.

       Picking a date — which could still be delayed depending on pretrial motions and other issues — was complicated. Trump was indicted on state charges earlier this year in New York and is scheduled to stand trial there in March. On top of that, Trump’s attorneys wanted Cannon to take into account his busy campaign schedule.

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       Trump is the early front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination. By late May, the bulk of the Republican primary contests will be completed — meaning there is a significant possibility that Trump could go to trial in the classified documents case as his party’s presumptive nominee. Postponing the proceedings until after the election, on the other hand, would have raised the possibility that if Trump or another Republican won, they could try to push the Justice Department to drop the case once in office.

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       Trump and a longtime aide, Waltine “Walt” Nauta, were charged last month in a 38-count indictment that accused the former president of improperly retaining 31 classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida residence and private club. Prosecutors alleged that Trump enlisted Nauta to help him keep some highly classified materials despite the government’s efforts to have them returned.

       The two men pleaded not guilty during separate court appearances in Miami. Trump has assailed this case and other investigations scrutinizing him as politically motivated.

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       The case was randomly assigned to Cannon, whom Trump appointed to the bench in 2020. Cannon drew scrutiny last year for a controversial ruling — sought by Trump — that allowed an outside review of the documents the FBI seized from his Florida residence as part of the investigation. An appeals court panel unanimously ruled she was wrong.

       Overseeing the documents trial puts Cannon in an extraordinary spotlight, and her every move is likely to be dissected as observers watch to see whether she appears to be favoring either side. Cannon can have a significant impact on how the trial unfolds, as she rules on what evidence can be included and decides on any potential motions challenging the charges.

       During the hearing this week, federal prosecutors said having the trial in December would give defense lawyers ample time to review the evidence during the discovery process. But Trump’s legal team argued that the amount of government evidence was immense and required more time.

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       Cannon agreed, writing in her order Friday that the discovery material is “exceedingly voluminous and will require substantial time to review and digest.”

       The judge did not seem sold on other arguments by Trump’s lawyers, including their contention that the intense level of attention on him would abate after the 2024 election, or that it would be exceedingly difficult to seat an impartial jury before then. She suggested during the hearing that the Trump side’s open-ended request to push things until after the election was not tenable, saying: “We need to set a schedule.”

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       Trump’s attorneys also said that in addition to campaigning, Trump will be entangled in other court cases in the near future. There is the criminal trial in Manhattan, as well as civil lawsuits set to go to trial in New York in October and January.

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       And more criminal charges are possible: Trump is a focus of separate investigations related to efforts by him and his allies to overturn his 2020 election loss, one conducted by an Atlanta-area district attorney and another being carried out by federal investigators. The Atlanta-area case is expected to result in a charging decision in August. Separately, Trump announced on social media Tuesday that his lawyers had received a letter from the Justice Department saying he could be charged in the federal investigation.

       The documents case will be tried under the rules of the Classified Information Procedures Act, or CIPA — a law that spells out pretrial steps that must be taken to decide what classified information will be used in court and how. Those steps could delay the trial because they can result in more pretrial motions and hearings than a typical case.

       Trump’s attorneys said that because this was a CIPA case, it should be considered “complex” — a designation that could allow for more time before the trial starts. The government countered that there are only two defendants and the legal issues at the crux of the case are not novel.

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       Cannon took a position somewhere in the middle.

       “This is a CIPA case, which although on its own may not be a fact warranting designation of this case as complex under the Speedy Trial Act, strongly counsels in that direction here given the substantial quantities of classified discovery, anticipated CIPA briefing and the need for Defendants and the Court to adequately review the classified discovery under appropriate safeguards and following resolution of pending logistics,” she wrote.

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       Cannon’s order Friday also laid out a schedule for the pretrial hearings and court deadlines that are expected over the next few months. She said she will ask prosecutors and the defense lawyers to present additional arguments on how to select a jury for the trial, a process that Trump’s attorneys have said could be extraordinarily challenging.

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       By next Thursday, prosecutors must submit a proposed agreement that Trump and his attorneys would have to sign before they are able to view any classified materials as part of the discovery process. Cannon has asked the two sides to discuss the proposal before it is filed by the government. But defense attorneys will be able to file a motion opposing the proposed agreement, with a hearing on it scheduled for Aug. 25 if necessary.

       By Sept. 7, the government must hand over an initial batch of classified materials for the defense team to view as part of the discovery process. The government said it has already given Trump’s and Nauta’s attorneys much of the nonclassified evidence.

       Cannon also scheduled multiple check-ins, deadlines and pretrial hearings that are laid out in the CIPA law.

       John Wagner contributed to this report.

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