Special Council Jack Smith is attempting to prosecute former President Trump on 37 criminal counts regarding Trump’s handling of classified materials that were stored at the former president’s home in Florida.
Smith has claimed that the materials contain national security secrets and information relating to nuclear weapons in the U.S.
Those who have been following the FBI seizure of the documents from the Trump home, Mar-a-Lago, saw Trump and his family posting while the search and seizure were happening and will remember that the former president provided transparency from his end during the process.
Trump has maintained that the documents were known to the FBI and DOJ, and the storage situation was known as well. Trump related in posts how the FBI had visited Mar-a-Lago to see where documents were stored and approved with the exception of asking for another lock, which Trump had installed.
Smith has asked Judge Aileen Cannon to nail down pre-trial dates prior to the expected May 2024 start date for the trial.
Cannon indicated on Thursday that she will not do so.
Also on Thursday, Smith filed a request to begin expediting the discovery of classified evidence that will be used by Trump’s attorneys in the defence of the former president.
Trump’s attorneys did not even have a chance to object before Judge Cannon ruled against Smith’s request.
Smith has already been reprimanded for refusing to grant President Trump’s attorneys access to the evidence used against him as well as for attempting to store the evidence in Washington, D.C., more than 1,000 miles away from Mar-a-Lago and the site of the alleged crimes.
As Trump’s attorneys have been asking for the trial to be pushed, citing the upcoming election and calling foul on the prosecuters for election interference, Judge Cannons rulings in these matters indicate that the trial may indeed be pushed.
Cannon has stated that politics will not play a role in her reasoning regarding the case, and on Thursday stated that she would decide about future trial dates during a March 2024 hearing, giving both sides more than four months to iron out the terms for sharing evidence.
There are 1.3 million pages of documents and thousands of hours of video footage from Mar-a-Lago from cameras that were kept rolling to be viewed and documented, which indicates that the discovery process would be lengthy.
The question of why the FBI would order security cameras at Mar-a-Lago to be turned off during the raid is being asked, as Trump posted during the raid that such was ordered and he refused to comply.
Trump has continually maintained his innocence in the entire matter, saying that he himself declassified the documents before leaving office and the storage was viewed and approved.
Trump’s attorneys have plan to subpoena FBI agents who ordered Mar-a-Lago staff to turn off cameras during their raid of the compound. ther eis speculation by some legal experts who are predicting that large chunks of Smith’s case could be tossed over the use of incendiary language in the videos.
If Trump wins the presidential election, he, as president, cannot be prosecuted. As Smith is doing his best to prosecute Trump before the presidential election, Cannon’s rulings are a problem for Smith.
Mewsweek reported that Andrew Weissman, who served under Obama in the FBI, has posted on X suggesting that Smith should seek Judge Cannon’s removal, as her rulings have favored the defendent.
However, Cannon also granted a request by Smith this week. On Wednesday, Judge Cannon laid out a series of restrictions as to where and how Trump and his team can review and discuss the information in the documents prior to the trial, during the discovery period.
The order was due to a request made by Smith which Cannon granted, and the 16-page document lays out the rules, saying that all the classified information “produced, passessed, created or maintained” by Trump and his legal team or disclosed to them by the government must be stored and kept in a secure facility established by a court-designated classifed information security officer.
Classified information can only be discussed within the secure location, formally known as a sensitive compartmented information facility, or SCIF, “or in an area authorized” by the security officer, according to the order, CBS News reports.
The designated security officer would be tasked with providing arrangements and guideance during the perusal of the documents, in order to facilitate the process properly.
Cannon stated, “Any violation of the terms of this ORder shall be brought immediately to the attention of the Court and may result in a charge of contempt of Court and possible referral for criminal prosecution” adding that unauthorized disclosure of classified information could have serious ramifications to the security of the United States.
As Cannon has ruled in favor of both sides, it seems Smith would have a hard time making a case for her removal.
Rephrased from: The Republic Brief By: Trump Knows
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