AG Garland insists Trump get 'speedy' trial to serve 'public interest.' But what about due process?

Attorney General Merrick Garland insists that former President Donald Trump's election obstruction trial be "speedy."

"The special prosecutor has said from the beginning that he thinks public interest requires a speedy trial, which I agree with," Garland told CNN in an interview on Friday.

Garland, however, did not specify how a "speedy" trial would serve the "public interest." The founding fathers, on the other hand, believed a speedy trial serves due process.

Last summer, a grand jury returned an indictment charging Trump with four crimes related to his alleged role to subvert the 2020 election: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

Despite the serious charges and novel circumstances of the case involving alleged crimes that were committed by a sitting president, special counsel Jack Smith originally requested a January trial date, but a judge eventually set the trial to begin on March 4.

The accelerated timeline has raised constitutional concerns because the Sixth Amendment not only guarantees a defendant the right to a "speedy and public trial," but it also guarantees the accused the right to prepare a complete defense. The question then becomes whether giving Trump only seven months to prepare a defense will protect his due process rights.

Smith, for his part, has tried to keep the trial on schedule.

When District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled that presidential immunity does not cover Trump in this case, the former president immediately appealed that ruling, which halted proceedings. Smith then asked the Supreme Court — thereby jumping the appeals court — to hear Trump's appeal. Smith cited the "public interest" in his request but never explained why the public would have an interest in the appeals court not first hearing Trump's appeal.

The Supreme Court ultimately declined Smith's petition.

That means the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals will first have to make a ruling on Trump's immunity claims. That ruling will likely be appealed to the Supreme Court regardless of what the court says. This means the case will likely be delayed for months, a reality Chutkan acknowledged on Thursday.

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