'Massive blue wave': GOP warned pushing Trump's trial beyond election would turn vote into a referendum on his guilt

Pushing former President Donald Trump's classified documents trial date past the general election could backfire spectacularly on Republicans, a congressman warned the party Friday.

Earlier in the day, Judge Aileen Cannon set a trial date in former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, ordering it to take place in mid-May.

Cannon, a Trump appointee who has previously been criticized for orders in the case excessively favorable to the former president, did not grant Trump's demand for the trial to be held after the election, and in theory a May trial would still be relatively fast compared to other cases involving the Espionage Act.

However, some legal experts have raised alarms that Cannon could be giving Trump's lawyers time to raise new delays and push out the date even further, possibly to beyond the election anyway.

And if that happens, it might not be good news for the GOP, warned Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) on Twitter.

"I hope Judge Cannon treats Trump like any other criminal defendant," wrote Lieu. "But if she grants future delays that move the trial to after the presidential election, then the election becomes a referendum on whether Trump faces trial. That would cause a massive blue wave, dwarfing 2018."

Trump has categorically denied any wrongdoing in the classified documents case, asserting that he had an absolute right to declassify and take home documents — though voice recordings of Trump seem to contradict this, and he is accused of ordering his bodyguard Walt Nauta, also under indictment in the same case, to move boxes around so investigators and even his own lawyers couldn't find them.

All of this comes as Trump receives a target letter from special counsel Jack Smith, lead prosecutor in the case, signaling he is also likely to be indicted in the separate January 6 investigation.