Special Counsel Jack Smith criticized Judge Aileen Cannon in a new court filing over her proposed jury instructions in the Trump classified documents case.
Cannon had asked both sides for input on instructions that embraced Trump’s argument he had broad authority to take records from the White House.
Smith’s team argued this premise was “fundamentally flawed” as the Presidential Records Act does not determine if Trump was authorized to possess classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
Reading Jack Smith's response on jury instructions and it's clear that the gloves are off btw DOJ and Judge Cannon.
One defense attorney just told me: "The tone Smith is taking with Cannon is no longer persuasion but outright threats. Unheard of dynamic btw DOJ and the bench."
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) April 3, 2024
They said Trump’s defense that he could deem any record “personal” should be dismissed as “pure fiction.”
“Both scenarios rest on an unstated and fundamentally flawed legal premise — namely, that the Presidential Records Act and in particular its distinction between ‘personal’ and ‘Presidential’ records, determines whether a former President is ‘authorized,’ under the Espionage Act, to possess highly classified documents and store them in an unsecure facility,” Smith’s team wrote.
Smith threatened to appeal before trial if Cannon ruled the Act was applicable, fearing an acquittal.
Commentators said Smith’s tone with Cannon was more confrontational than persuasive, and Democrats were hypocritical for attacking Cannon while criticizing Trump for challenging other judges.
The filing made it “clear that the gloves are off btw DOJ and Judge Cannon,” columnist Julie Kelly wrote.
“One defense attorney just told me: ‘The tone Smith is taking with Cannon is no longer persuasion but outright threats. Unheard of dynamic btw DOJ and the bench,’” she added.
“When Trump raises evidence of a judge’s political bias, Democrats pretend that’s a ‘violent threat.’ But when these Democrats hysterically attack another judge for ensuring Trump gets a fair trial, they don’t say a word after the resulting death threats,” Article III Project founder Mike Davis wrote.
Trump faces over 40 charges in the ongoing documents probe.
