#Trump’s #Florida trial for mishandling #ClassifiedDocuments & #obstruction of govt efforts to retrieve them has been pushed back indefinitely, #AileenCannon ruled Tues, increasing the chance that Trump’s NY #criminal trial may be the ONLY ONE to happen before the #election.
The judge originally set the trial for late May & heard arguments on March 1 about when it should be — w/Trump’s lawyers pushing for after the election, or no earlier than Aug.
But in her ruling, the judge said there are too many complicated legal rules & deadlines surrounding the use of #classified evidence in public #criminal trials that need to be considered before she finalizes a court date. She said she would schedule the trial date at a future time. Cases that involve #ClassifiedDocuments have to follow the rules & legal proceedings defined under the Classified Information Procedures Act, or #CIPA.
“The Court also determines that finalization of a trial date at this juncture—before resolution of the myriad & interconnected pre-trial & #CIPA issues remaining & forthcoming—would be imprudent & inconsistent w/the Court’s duty to fully & fairly consider the various pending pre-trial motions before the Court, critical CIPA issues, & additional pretrial & trial preparations necessary to present this case to a jury” #AileenCannon wrote.
@Nonilex If Trump is not re-elected, and assuming the place isn’t in a state of civil war, can these trials go ahead regardless? Can another court overrule the Trump supporting, very partial ‘Judge’ Cannon.
@harriettmb if he doesn’t win there should be nothing to stop the cases moving forward.
Even now, it is very likely Jack Smith / DOJ will appeal to the 11th circuit.
“By delaying a final decision, #Cannon gives other judges presiding over #Trump#criminal cases —US Dist Judge #TanyaChutkan in Washington & #FultonCounty Superior Court Judge Scott #McAfee in #Georgia —a window to schedule their own trials this summer or fall. It’s unclear, though, if either of those judges can prepare their cases in time.”
@Nonilex@politico That's a good point. There are so many trials it's like Trump has to play 'whack a mole' to keep them all down! IIRC the D.C trial was originally supposed to be right now instead of the NY one.
Ridiculous that #AileenCannon says that there are "novel & difficult" #CIPA issues when her delays have meant the CIPA issues have barely been considered by the court. The only section of CIPA she has considered was §4, which is straightforward.
#NealKatyal says while #JackSmithcould appeal #AileenCannon’s decision, it’s unlikely that he will. The writ of mandamus standard is too high a bar for removal & #DOJ is loathe to cast aspersions on any judge.
He’s more optimistic about the possibility of #Trump’s #Jan6 case getting scheduled now that the #ClassifiedDocuments case is indefinitely delayed.
They’ve yet to rule on either Trump’s #immunity claim or the #Jan6 case disputing the use of the #obstruction of an official proceeding by defendant Fischer that could impact #Trump as well as other #J6 defendants.
@Nonilex Because of that SCOTUS glitch, Smith should go ahead and appeal. That appeal possibly could alarm/embarrass Justice Roberts who by many reports still cares about how the judiciary is viewed by the citizens.
@timo21 I’m not sure Roberts cares at all or if he just says he does. Actions speak louder than words & Clarence Thomas has not recused from the Jan6 trials.
@Nonilex Dang, that's a wise response by Smith. I might have arrived there too if I were in Smith's place, but definitely not before raging, getting drunk, oversleeping, and gingerly recovering from my hangover.
@Nonilex@politico While I have absolute confidence that Chutkan will move quickly once Trump's DC case is remanded to her, I'm curious that neither Willis nor McAfee seem to have any sense of urgency to get a trial date set in GA.
Well, no surprised that she finds the rules "too complicated".
Cannon is another example of the tangerine twattgrabbers "very best people" who haven't the intelligence nor the ethics to perform the required job.
@Nonilex You and I both have known Eileen Cannons: book-smart lawyers successful in academic settings who become utterly overwhelmed by actual law firms and courtrooms and wind up finding relative contentment as research associates somewhere for the same pay as a did paralegal.
But most of those people don't get named to the federal bench with less trial experience than the median 27-year-old assistant county counsel.