Special Counsel Jack Smith recently requested that Judge Aileen Cannon place a gag order on former President Donald Trump. Judge Cannon, in a recent filing, not only refused his demand for a gag order, but also threatened Jack Smith with sanctions if he does not comply with her requirements for the trial moving forward.
That portion of the order began by saying (emphasis added), “PAPERLESS ORDER denying without prejudice for lack of meaningful conferral 581 the Special Counsel’s Motion to Modify Conditions of Release. Upon review of the Motion 581 [the gag order motion], Defendant Trump’s procedural opposition 583, and the attached email correspondence between counsel [583-1], the Court finds the Special Counsel’s pro forma “conferral” to be wholly lacking in substance and professional courtesy.”
Continuing, Judge Cannon called out Smith for not giving Trump’s team sufficient time to respond. She wrote, “It should go without saying that meaningful conferral is not a perfunctory exercise. Sufficient time needs to be afforded to permit reasonable evaluation of the requested relief by opposing counsel and to allow for adequate follow-up discussion as necessary about the specific factual and legal basis underlying the motion.”
Next, Judge Cannon peremptorily shut down a potential defense Smith could make for his conduct, saying, “This is so even when a party “assume[s]” the opposing party will oppose the proposed motion [583-1], and it applies with additional force when the relief sought – at issue for the first time in this proceeding and raised in a procedurally distinct manner than in cited cases – implicates substantive and/or Constitutional questions.”
She then noted that the gag order motion was denied because it did not even meet the basic requirements and that, in the future, any motion made must comply with the law. ” Because the filing of the Special Counsel’s Motion did not adhere to these basic requirements, it is due to be denied without prejudice. Any future, non-emergency motion brought in this case – whether on the topic of release conditions or anything else – shall not be filed absent meaningful, timely, and professional conferral,” Judge Cannon wrote.
Giving yet more requirements for what must be included, Judge Cannon then wrote, “Moreover, all certificates of conference going forward shall (1) appear in a separate section at the end of the motion, not embedded in editorialized footnotes; (2) specify, in objective terms, the exact timing, method, and substance of the conferral conducted; and (3) include, if requested by opposing counsel, no more than 200 words verbatim from the opposing side on the subject of conferral, again in objective terms.”
Then, ending the scorching order on a high note for Trump supporters, Judge Cannon threatened Smith with sanctions if he does not comply with those requirements in the future and that, as sanctions were not now appropriate, Trump’s motion requesting them was denied for now. She wrote, “Failure to comply with these requirements may result in sanctions. In light of this Order, the Court determines to deny without prejudice Defendant Trump’s Motion to Strike and for Sanctions 583. Signed by Judge Aileen M. Cannon on 5/28/2024.”
Watch Fox News discuss Judge Cannon’s denial of the gag order motion here:
Featured image credit: By United States Department of Justice – This file has been extracted from another file, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=132849708
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