Free Republic

“This is how republics collapse.” Those ominous words captured the hand-wringing, hair-pulling reaction to the dismissal of the Florida case against Donald Trump by Judge Aileen Cannon. It was not just that she reached a conclusion long supported by some conservative lawyers and a Supreme Court justice. To rule in favor of Trump in such a dismissal is, once again, the end to Democracy as we know it. The 93-page order methodically goes through the governing cases and statutes for the appointment of prosecutors. There has long been a debate over how an attorney general like Merrick Garland can circumvent...

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has dismissed the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump in an order Monday morning over the manner in which special counsel Jack Smith was appointed. “The Superseding Indictment is DISMISSED because Special Counsel Smith’s appointment violates the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution,” wrote Judge Cannon, who was appointed to the bench by the former president.

Judge dismisses classified documents indictment against Donald Trump. The federal judge overseeing the classified documents charges against former president Donald Trump has dismissed the indictment on the grounds that special counsel Jack Smith was improperly appointed, according to a new court filing Monday. U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon’s ruling is a remarkable win for Trump, whose lawyers have thrown longshot argument after longshot argument to dismiss the case. Other courts have rejected similar arguments to the one that he made in Florida about Smith’s unlawful appointment.

Judge Aileen Cannon has granted Donald Trump's motion to pause his classified documents case in Florida after the Supreme Court decision in his immunity case. The case stems from the Department of Justice's allegation that Trump should not have held onto some classified documents after leaving office. In his defense, Trump has cite the Presidential Records Act. Journalist Julie Kelly, who has been thorough in her investigations, reported that Cannon has granted the motion. The motion, filed by Trump's legal team, reads: "President Donald J. Trump respectfully submits this motion for (I) leave to file supplemental briefing regarding the implications...

Now let’s get to it. For background, Chief Justice John Roberts, in writing for the majority, answered the following question: “Whether and if so to what extent does a former President enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office.” The Court provided three answers based on the classifications of the President’s conduct: A President has absolute immunity when he exercises his core constitutional powers: “Congress may not criminalize the President’s conduct in carrying out the re­sponsibilities of the Executive Branch under the Constitu­tion.” A President has presumptive immunity from criminal...

Monica Lewinsky has joined many liberals in calling for Judge Aileen Cannon to be impeached over her handling of the case involving classified documents taken from Donald Trump's home. Cannon has been the source of fury and puzzlement among Trump critics after she issued rulings in the case that got overturned and failed to get it on track for trial before the November elections. The 50-year-old former White House intern and activist joined those critics in demanding the Trump-appointed Cannon be impeached in a social media rant. 'I awakened angry about the documents case in Florida,' she wrote. 'It is...

When Judge Aileen M. Cannon presides over a hearing on Friday in former President Donald J. Trump’s classified documents case, she will spend the day considering well-trod arguments about an arcane legal issue in an unorthodox manner.It will be the latest example of how her unusual handling of the case has now become business as usual.Over the past several months, Judge Cannon, who was appointed by Mr. Trump in his final days in office, has made a number of decisions that have prompted second-guessing and criticism among legal scholars following the case. Many of her rulings, on a wide array...

Shortly after Judge Aileen M. Cannon drew the assignment in June 2023 to oversee former President Donald J. Trump’s classified documents case, two more experienced colleagues on the federal bench in Florida urged her to pass it up and hand it off to another jurist, according to two people briefed on the conversations.The judges who approached Judge Cannon — including the chief judge in the Southern District of Florida, Cecilia M. Altonaga — each asked her to consider whether it would be better if she were to decline the high-profile case, allowing it to go to another judge, the two...

We already know that the raid on Mar-a-Lago was completely unjustified and unnecessary for many reasons …***Now we're learning that due to a secret Obama-era program, the Presidential Information Technology Committee (PITC), there's a very good chance that the Biden Administration has had control of the originals of many, or all of the documents at issue this entire time.The PITC was created in March 2015 by Executive Order in response to an October 2014 incident in which Russian hackers breached Executive Office of the President computers. ...A 2015 Memorandum of Understanding between the members of the PITC set out the...

Though all eyes have been on former President Donald Trump in a Manhattan courtroom, some are turning their attention to Trump’s classified documents case as it hits a series of major snags. In a recent court filing, Jay Bratt, the lead Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutor now assigned to special counsel Jack Smith’s team, admitted that the FBI brought cover sheets reading “top secret” to its raid of Mar-a-Lago. The cover sheets, Bratt explained, were used as placeholders for the classified documents found at the scene. Now, both Trump’s defense and the special counsel are admitting that the documents seized...

Did Federal Agencies Plant Classified Docs To Frame Trump https://thefederalist.com/2024/05/09/did-federal-agencies-plant-classified-documents-to-frame-trump/

If you have followed law and politics for any length of time, you have probably heard of “speaking indictments.” That’s where the prosecution will write an indictment or court motion with very granular -yet perhaps not pertinent- details of a case against a suspect that highlights a much bigger picture than a singular perspective against the individual defendant. The intent is to make the public aware of the details within a case by making them part of the court record. In the Special Counsel Jack Smith constructed Lawfare case against Donald Trump, what is generally called “the documents case”, involving...

On the left: What DOJ/Jack Smith wanted to conceal. On the right: Now we know why. More proof of collaboration btw Biden White House and NARA to concoct a case. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Outrageous lies by Joe Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and DOJ/Jack Smith about "independence" from investigations into Trump. The Biden White House and DOJ wew intimately involved in developing a criminal case against Trump for records mismanagement--it appears the first go-around related to alleged "destruction" of government papers. Contrary to public and legal assertions, NARA was working with DOJ/White House to craft a criminal referral by Sept. 2021--FIVE MONTHS...

On Monday, a version of Donald Trump’s motion to compel discovery in the Mar-a-Lago documents case was released by Judge Aileen Cannon with much of the information originally redacted by Biden’s special counsel Jack Smith being unredacted. In one section titled "Early Indications of NARA Bias," which was heavily redacted in its original, January 16 version, it now states that NARA General Counsel Gary Stern sent an internal email attaching a draft letter to President Trump’s [Presidential Records Act] representatives. Stern noted that he 'had several conversations' with [White House Office of Records Management]'s [redacted] and that [redacted] had 'raised...

U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon denied former President Donald Trump’s request to dismiss the documents case in a ruling on Thursday. Trump’s team had argued that the Presidential Records Act takes priority over the Espionage Act when it came to highly classified documents he took to Mar-a-Lago after he left office, but Cannon rejected the request to dismiss the case on those grounds, writing in the filing, “The Presidential Records Act does not provide a pre-trial basis to dismiss.” Cannon also defended herself against attacks from Special Counsel Jack Smith, who had harshly criticized a request she gave both...

The MAGA-friendly federal judge who keeps siding with Donald Trump in his Mar-a-Lago classified records case has forced prosecutors to make a stark choice: allow jurors to see a huge trove of national secrets or let him go. U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon’s ultimatum Monday night came as a surprise twist in what could have been a simple order; one merely asking federal prosecutors and Trump’s lawyers for proposed jury instructions at the upcoming trial. But as she has done repeatedly, Cannon used this otherwise innocuous legal step as yet another way to swing the case wildly in favor...

The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump's classified documents trial granted the former president's legal team a 10-day extension to make filings in the case, despite opposition to the motion from special counsel Jack Smith. Florida-based federal Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday ruled that Trump may file replies to motions by March 24, 2025.

It's been great fun watching the left spin the findings of Special Counsel Robert Hur. The NY Times led the way calling it "unequivocal legal exoneration." That is totally false. Hur proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Biden committed multiple felonies. He willfully and knowingly mishandled, retained and shared classified information. Any and all claims of Biden's innocence hinge completely on his being senile. Hur did not say Biden was a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory." He said“Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as...

On Friday, District Judge Aileen Cannon issued a new order in the Donald Trump classified documents case adding to the mountain of evidence that she is firmly in the former president’s pocket. Trump appointed Cannon in 2020 and the Senate confirmed her appointment in the days after he lost the 2020 election. It’s deeply offensive to the rule of law for judges to bend the law to benefit those who put them on the bench. Sadly, Cannon does just that.

Judge Aileen Cannon denied without prejudice Special Counsel Jack Smith’s motion to compel Trump to disclose his defense strategy in the classified documents case in Florida. In November, Jack Smith tried to force Trump to disclose his decision on whether he would use an “advice-of-counsel” defense in the classified documents case. This could have forced Trump to waive attorney-client privilege. Thankfully Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, denied Jack Smith’s request. “Denying without prejudice Special Counsel’s Motion to Compel Disclosure Regarding Advice-of-Counsel Defense. The Court has reviewed the Motion, Defendants’ Opposition, the Special Counsel’s Reply, and is fully advised in...