The federal judge presiding over the case against former President Donald J. Trump involving the handling of classified materials at Mar-a-Lago spanked special counsel Jack Smith over his questionable legal tactics.
On Monday, Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida ordered two sealed filings by the ruthless federal prosecutor to be struck from the record and demanded answers over Smith’s use of an out-of-state grand jury to investigate a case when the charges were filed in South Florida.
“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,” Judge Cannon wrote in her filing.
“The Special Counsel’s motion for leave to file under seal [ECF No. 95] is DENIED,” the document reads. “The Clerk is directed to STRIKE from the docket sealed entries 95 and 96.”
The Trump appointee also gave Smith and his team until August 22 to respond to the use of his out-of-district grand jury.
“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,” Judge Cannon wrote.
No judge should tolerate Jack Smith’s bullsh*t. https://t.co/axBTjsvomA
— Marjorie Taylor Greene (@mtgreenee) August 7, 2023
Trump’s leftist enemies have repeatedly smeared Cannon as a “MAGA judge” and predictably did not react well to Monday’s rebuke of Smith.
“Judge Cannon responds to the govt’s request for a hearing on Nauta’s lawyer’s conflicts & discloses the existence of a grand jury investigation in another district while denying gov’t’s motion to seal. The govt can appeal. This may tee up the issue of her fitness on this case,” tweeted MSNBC legal analyst Joyce Vance, suggesting that she be removed from the case.
Judge Cannon responds to the govt’s request for a hearing on Nauta’s lawyer’s conflicts & discloses the existence of a grand jury investigation in another district while denying gov’t’s motion to seal. The govt can appeal. This may tee up the issue of her fitness on this case. pic.twitter.com/62fC57MpSc
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) August 7, 2023
The Mar-a-Lago “boxes” case has ceded headlines to the far more dangerous threat to Trump’s future in Smith’s charges over the former president’s alleged role in the so-called “insurrection” on January 6, 2021, which puts his fate into the hands of another federal judge who is unlikely to restrain AG Merrick Garland’s hand-picked special counsel.
“There is no way I can get a fair trial with the judge ‘assigned’ to the ridiculous freedom of speech/fair elections case,” Trump said of Obama-appointed Judge Tanya Chutkan in an all-caps post to his Truth Social platform on Monday. “Everybody knows this, and so does she!”
Trump’s legal woes are only going to get worse with more charges expected soon from ambitious Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis who is investigating the former president’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
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