Biden Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith suffered an obstacle in court Tuesday as the judge presiding over his classified files case against previous President Donald Trump ruled that he is not entitled to hoard the documents in a private center beyond the Florida district.
Smith formerly asked for approval from Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, to keep the files obtained from the FBI’s raid of Mar-a-Lago in a protected center in Washington, D.C., more than 1,000 miles away from the Southern District of Florida where the case versus previous President Donald Trump is taking place. Judge Cannon ruled Thursday that Smith must share the files with Trump’s legal team in a location hassle-free to them.
“The parties are advised the production of classified discovery to defense counsel is deemed prompt upon positioning in a certified facility in the Southern District of Florida, not in another federal district,” Cannon composed. “It is the obligation of the Workplace of the Unique Counsel to make and perform arrangements to deposit such discovery to defense counsel in this District.”
NEW: Judge Aileen Cannon just rejected Special Counsel Jack Smith’s demand to produce a safe and secure center in DC which would have forced Trump and accuseds to take a trip to DC to view some “classified documents” in Smith’s other case versus Trump.
Polar opposite of Judge Chutkan: pic.twitter.com/V1xzUQQKBF
— Julie Kelly (@julie_kelly2) October 17, 2023
The decision is another excellent indication for President Trump and develops on Judge Cannon’s previous choice this summer denying Smith the chance to shield his list of 84 witnesses from the president’s legal group. Smith argued that President Trump’s frequent criticisms of his lawsuit on social networks threaten to bias or daunt witnesses who may see their names made public.
Court observers have actually added that Smith is relying on a perforated legal method more customized to enflaming the emotions of jurors than providing objective facts. They cited as an example Smith’s use of words like “fraud/fraudulent,” used 63 times, “false/falsely” 94 times, five discusses of “phony” and 3 uses of the word “sham.” A few of them forecasted that much of the government’s case against Trump will be thrown away.
Smith is prosecuting President Trump under the 1917 Espionage Act, arguing the previous president needs to have known much better than to take files including classified national security tricks from the White Home in the days following his departure. President Trump has denied the claim, saying he had the right to declassify all files in his ownership under the Presidential Records Act.
Alina Habba, among the president’s most high-profile lawyers, has threatened Smith’s team with a wave of depositions to discover predisposition in the case. She pointed out as example orders from FBI officers who robbed Mar-a-Lago to turn off security cameras while the search was underway.
