Close Menu
    Political Commentary

    Trump-Appointed Judge Cannon Strikes Big Blow to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Prosecution Effort with Invalidation of Sealed Filings

    By

    Judge Aileen Cannon, appointed as a Judge for the Southern District of Florida by President Donald Trump, just struck a big blow to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s effort to prosecute former President Donald Trump over the documents he kept at Mar-a-Lago by invalidating two of Smith’s sealing filings.

    POLITICO’s senior legal correspondent, Kyle Cheney, drew attention to the blow in a post on Twitter in which he explained what Judge Cannon did and for what reason, saying, “Judge CANNON comes out swinging at special counsel this morning, striking two of prosecutors’ sealed filings and demanding an explanation of ‘the legal propriety of using an out-of-district grand jury proceeding to continue to investigate’ the docs case.”

    Also included in Cheney’s tweet was a screenshot of part of Judge Cannon’s order, in which Judge Cannon said, “Waltine Nauta shall file a response to the Motion for a Garcia hearing [ECF No. 97] on or before August 17, 2023. Among other topics as raised in the Motion, the response shall address the legal propriety of using an out-of-district grand jury proceeding to continue to investigate and/or to seek post-indictment hearings on matters pertinent to the instant indicted matter in this district. The Special Counsel shall respond to that discussion in a Reply in Support of the Motion [ECF No. 971. due on or before August 22, 2023. The remaining Defendants may, but are not required to, file briefs of their own related to the grand jury issue referenced herein, but any such briefs are due by August 17, 2023, and may be submitted in combined or individual fashion.”

    Also in the order, wrote that Special Counsel Jack Smith had not met the standard for keeping the two filings sealed from public view, writing, “The Special Counsel states in conclusory terms that the supplement should be sealed from public view ‘to comport with grand jury secrecy,’ but the motion for leave and the supplement plainly fail to satisfy the burden of establishing a sufficient legal or factual basis to warrant sealing the motion and supplement.”

    Julie Kelly, a conservative commentator, tweeted about Judge Cannon’s ruling as well. Addressing the part in which Judge Cannon said, “the response shall address the legal propriety of using an out-of-district grand jury proceeding to continue to investigate and/or to seek post-indictment hearings,” Kelly argued, “BREAKING: I told you Judge Cannon is legit. She is not going to tolerate Jack Smith’s bullsh*t. This is gold–she asks defense to raise possible grand jury abuse by DOJ for conducting nearly all of the investigation in DC then switching to FLA at last minute for indictment.”

    Continuing, Kelly addressed the part of the ruling that stated Smith had not met the burden for keeping the documents sealed, saying, “Cannon also won’t tolerate DOJs nonstop requests for secrecy. She already denied a govt motion asking to keep names of 80+ witnesses under seal.”

    So, though Trump’s legal battles are far from over, one of the indictments just suffered a blow thanks to one of the judges he appointed. We’ll see if others follow suit and help him out.

     

    "*" indicates required fields

    GOP should investigate Nancy Pelosi*
    This poll subscribes you to our premium network of content. Unsubscribe at any time.
    This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.




    Related Posts