UPDATE from MAL classified docs case hearing today:
Todd Blanche and Emil Bove appearing today on behalf of Trump. Stanley Woodward, Sasha Dadan, and John Irving appearing on behalf of Walt Nauta and Carlos DeOliveira. - No defendants are present in court today.
During the morning session, Judge #Cannon heard argument from #Trump’s defense attorney, Emil Bove. James Pearce argued on behalf of the special counsel’s office.
Cannon grilled both Bove and Pearce on their respective arguments, focusing questions related to textual analysis of the statutes and DOJ regulations under which AG Garland appointed #JackSmith. #legal
HAPPENING NOW: Judge Aileen #Cannon convenes hearing on #Trump's bid to escape classified docs prosecution with claim that #JackSmith's special counsel appointment is unconstitutional #legal
"The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump's classified documents case will hear arguments Friday about whether special counsel Jack Smith should be removed from the prosecution."
When Judge #AileenCannon presides over a hearing on Fri in #Trump’s #ClassifiedDocuments case, she will spend the day considering well-trod arguments about an arcane #legal issue in an unorthodox manner.
The issue that will be discussed…is a motion by the defense to dismiss the charges…on the grounds that #SpecialCounsel#JackSmith was improperly funded & appointed.
Judges have also tossed efforts to invalidate the work of special counsels like Robert #Mueller, who examined connections between #Russia & #Trump’s 2016 campaign, & David C. Weiss, who has brought 2 #criminal cases against Hunter Biden, President Biden’s son.
Despite this record, however, Judge #AileenCannon has decided to consider the constitutionality of #JackSmith’s appointment anew —& not on the merits of written briefs, but rather at an expansive hearing that will spill across 2 days.
“From the start of the investigation into Donald Trump’s mishandling of #ClassifiedDocuments, U.S. District Judge #AileenCannon has seemed inclined to act in favor of the president who appointed her. Now, Cannon might be poised to issue her most audacious ruling yet, on #Trump’s far-fetched bid to have the #indictment#dismissed on the grounds that special counsel #JackSmith’s appointment is constitutionally invalid.
The essence of #Trump’s claim — backed by, among others, former attorneys general Edwin Meese III & Michael Mukasey — is that #JackSmith’s naming as special counsel violates the Constitution’s appointments clause. That provision requires that “Officers of the United States” be nominated by the president & confirmed by the Senate. But the appointments clause allows Congress to give the “Heads of Departments” — in this case the attorney general — authority to appoint “inferior officers.”
The case is tied up in efforts by Trump’s attys to have the charges against him dismissed before they go to trial. To that end, the attys have filed a barrage of motions attacking the #indictment on a number of grounds. Those include claims that #JackSmith was improperly appointed to his job & that he filed the charges as part of a politicized effort to harm #Trump. [aka the “I’m a victim” defense]
JUST IN: Judge #Cannon in the MAL classified #documents case enters a paperless Order directing #Trump to file a Response to Special Counsel #JackSmith’s Motion to Modify Bond Conditions on or before June 14. A Reply, if any, from Smith will be due on or before June 21st.
Clearly, Judge Cannon doesn’t seem to be worried about the safety of the law enforcement officers that have targets on their backs courtesy of Donald Trump’s spreading of lies about the MAL search warrant.
"Legal experts pan Aileen Cannon's 'outrageous' pro-Trump bias. Judge Cannon has appeared confused by basic legal concepts and indulged the Trump defense team's wildest arguments."
Judge #Cannon is giving #Trump's legal team and the government 12 days to tell her how the SCOTUS decision upholding the CFPB's funding/appointment impacts Trump's claim that #JackSmith was unlawfully appointed and funded...
JUST IN: Judge #CANNON has denied #JackSmith's gag order request in FL, saying prosecutors' failure to confer with defense before filing it was "wholly lacking in substance and professional courtesy." #TrumpIndictment#documents#legal
In an angry court filing, #Trump’s lawyers pushed back hard against the request by the office of the #SpecialCounsel, #JackSmith, to revise Trump’s conditions of release by forbidding him to make any public comments that might endanger federal agents working on the prosecution.
In their motion to Judge #AileenCannon in Federal Dist Court… #Trump’s attys said that Smith’s request was “an extraordinary, unprecedented & unconstitutional censorship application” that “unjustly targets President Trump’s campaign speech while he is the leading candidate for the presidency.”
Trump’s legal team said that #JackSmith’s request should be stricken from the docket & that he & his prosecutors should face #contempt sanctions for filing it….
4 months after the #FBI raided #MarALago, Trump’s attys discovered 4 docs marked #classified in his personal bedroom.
That revelation was among several cited by US District Judge Beryl Howell in a newly unsealed 2023 opinion that found prosecutors had presented compelling #evidence that #Trump#knowingly stashed #NationalSecurity docs in his home & then tried to conceal them when the #DOJ tried to retrieve them.
Throughout the opinion, Howell — who was chief judge of the Washington, DC federal district court at the time — described w/varying degrees of incredulity how 4 documents w/ classification markings could have been discovered in #Trump’s private quarters months after prosecutors had subpoenaed them & the #FBI conducted its own exhaustive search of the property.
Howell’s opinion was unsealed along w/a large batch of other previously secret grand jury-related docs stemming from the investigation into #Trump for withholding reams of #ClassifiedDocuments after leaving office in 2021, incl’g some of the nation’s most sensitive #MilitarySecrets. US Dist Judge #AileenCannon, a Trump appointee based in #Florida, released the batch of docs Tues after lengthy negotiations w/ #JackSmith’s team & Trump’s lawyers over redactions.
Related: Chief Judge Boasberg denied#Trump “body man” #WaltNauta’s request to transfer some #GrandJury materials from DC to #Florida, says #Nauta failed to make specific case.
Special counsel #JackSmith appears to have suspected additional efforts by #Trump to obstruct the government's investigation of his handling of classified #documents, a newly unsealed court filing revealed Tuesday. #legal#TrumpIndictment
#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.