Posted on 11/03/2023 5:24:50 AM PDT by Red Badger
U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon unequivocally shot down a request by Jack Smith’s prosecutors to deny access to defense attorneys in the classified documents case being brought against former President Donald Trump’s co-defendants.
The Miami-based judge, who is a Trump appointee, described the special counsel’s efforts to restrict discovery to the legal defense team in the case to be based on a “broad and unconvincing theory” and an “atextual” and “almost blithe” interpretation of the statute in question: Ouch.
This past summer, Smith’s prosecutors charged Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira with allegedly aiding Trump to unlawfully retain classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
Cannon ruled Wednesday the the Office of Special Counsel’s broad interpretation of the Classified Information Procedures Act did not square with the plain reading of the law.
The judge wrote that Smith’s prosecutors want to restrict Nauta and De Oliveira “almost entirely from reviewing classified discovery to be produced in the case, and then placing the burden to justify otherwise on defense counsel.”
To justify their move, Smith’s team pointed to Section 3 of the CIPA law which states, “Upon motion of the United States, the court shall issue an order to protect against the disclosure of any classified information disclosed by the United States to any defendant in any criminal case in a district court of the United States.”
However, Cannon held a simple reading of CIPA does not support the special counsel’s position that the defendants’ attorneys can be restricted across the board from reviewing the documents that would be pointed to at trial as proof that Nauta and De Oliveira mishandled classified materials.
The judge highlighted that the statute makes a distinction between the defendants themselves and their lawyers.
(Excerpt) Read more at westernjournal.com ...
BTTT
A lie by omission of a word or two, or the addition of a word or two, to the absolutes (facts and truth) is as egregious a falsehood as if the entire presentation was a total fairytale.
We (the persecutors (er, Democrat party prosecutors) ) claim some of the evidence might contain classified information, therefore the evidence contains classified material, therefore the defense lawyers cannot see the evidence because it contains classified material. And we forbid you to talk about any of this in public because it will contaminate a potential jury pool that we have been leaking information into for 4 years through the national news media.
Have I got this right?/ sarcasm
Essentially.................
In the Trump legal woes, Aileen Cannon seems to be the only judge interested in fairness and justice. All the other “judges” are participants in Stalinist show trials.
While I appreciate the article, I am going to bash this author and the editors over the head for really annoying thing. When you write about a judicial order that is a matter of public record, put a link in to the order. Then if you are writing intelligently about the order I will be your friend and admirer. Don’t and all I will remember is that you are this condescending idiot wasting my time making me go find the order myself. Some of us actually read judcial orders. There is often a lot more that is interesting in them that furthers the point you are making but you cannot go on at in length in a journal article. The judge, however can go on for pages explaining her position citing the laws and cases that she is relying on so any idiot can go find them.
Well stated! I agree fully.
/SB
Interesting.
So, if I read it correctly, the Jack Smith prosecuting team was attempting to unreasonably narrow the scope allowed to the defense in the Discovery Phase by intentionally misusing the law via an unreasonably broad interpretation of the Classified Information Procedures Act.
I presume discovery process for The Defense would have allowed the Defense Team to examine the documents in question to determine the nature of the documents to contest.
It sounds like Jack Smith’s team wants to restrict the examination of the evidence by the defense narrowly, and have a covering policy that stated “All documents are judged as classified because we say they are, and thus cannot be reviewed during discovery.”
It sounds like the Judge is inclined to take the completely opposite approach, and all documents will be available to the defense for discovery. If Jack Smith’s team wants something excluded, they will have to make the case for individual documents they want excluded.
This latter approach seems the way it SHOULD be, but we all know how Jack Smith is going to handle it-they will simply make an individual case for every document.
They have bottomless pockets, the power of government behind them, all the time in the world, and no moral compass.
Of course they will take that approach. But will Judge Cannon let them? I suspect not, but who knows.
Thank you. Not showing your sources when it is easy in the modern age of “journalism” is $$”&@$.
This has always been a weak case which was simply meant as a political hack job by a political hack. This was always the strategy, as are the other 5ish cases. As people said all along, the ONLY case where they might be able to trick the justice system into an anti-Trump verdict is GA. That being said, the case and the appeals will extend well beyond the 24 election - so Trump will be the candidate, but they feel a conviction might be worth 1-3% in the race, and in close races that’s significant.
It’s political warfare, plain and simple, designed to siphon votes.
Good points.
Given that there are 91 felony indictments against Trump, Jack Smith’s team appears to have taken the approach of saturating the defense so that at least one of the legal missiles (they hope) will sneak through before the election to damage the USS Donald Trump election aircraft carrier.
This ruling by Judge Cannon seems to be a breath of fresh judicial air, something we haven’t seen in these show trials.
“So, if I read it correctly, the Jack Smith prosecuting team was attempting to unreasonably narrow the scope allowed to the defense in the Discovery Phase by intentionally misusing the law via an unreasonably broad interpretation of the Classified Information Procedures Act.”
My reading was that they should just put their heads in the nooses and not ask any questions. True kangaroo prosecution. Why don’t they just line them up against a wall and shoot them, like they do in mother russia? And then for the record, just state that they were given a fair trial and then shot, leaving the trial.
100%. A politicized, partisan, lawless, weaponized legal system, engaging in lawfare, to attempt to manipulate the electoral process.
That is all it is.
And they are getting away with it.
Heck, we even have people here on Free Republic who are all in on these communist-style show trials, and who support them because it isn’t their ox getting gored.
And the DC Judge reading is totally opposite.
Oh thanks. I found it so I half-withdraw my complaint. If the link had been more prominent and more towards the beginning of the article where I could have found it I would be fully on his side. Of course he could accuse me of being a blind old codger....
This past summer, Smith’s prosecutors charged Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira with allegedly aiding Trump to unlawfully retain classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
In other news, the Biden crime family is handing classified documents to China like candy for millions.
I have a real problem with Smith’s team seeing these classified documents.
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