By Kaelan Deese. Media: Washingtonexaminer
The Florida classified documents case against former President Donald Trump is not going well for special counsel Jack Smith, both in pace and in consistency.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, an appointee of Trump, reprimanded Smith in a Sunday afternoon order relating to requests for redactions by parties in the criminal case. The judge suggested Smith is flip-flopping on his past claims of concern over grand jury secrecy and witness safety, a move that marks a blow to the special counselās consistency in a case that is already facing major setbacks as it moves toward an eventual trial.
āThe Court deems it necessary to express concern over the Special Counselās treatment of certain sealed materials in this case,ā Cannon wrote in her five-page order in the dispute over what information in pending pretrial motions should be concealed.
Although Cannon partially granted Smithās sealing requests, as she has previously, she took issue with the special counsel having āno objectionā to a full unsealing of previously sealed docket entries related to Trump attorneysā allegations of prosecutorial misconduct. In essence, the judge raised concerns that Smith is contradicting himself by supporting full transparency only for filings that benefit his side.
The special counselās office contended it moved to unseal previously redacted docket entries in order to rebut publicly Trumpās assertions of prosecutorial misconduct. āFair enough,ā Cannon wrote.
But the larger concern for the judge is that Smithās office failed to explain a basis for why the special counsel couldnāt defend the integrity of his office while simultaneously preserving witness safety rules he has repeatedly cited to the court āand which the Court has endeavored with diligence to accommodate in its multiple Orders on sealing/redaction.ā
āThe Court is disappointed in these developments,ā Cannon added. āThe sealing and redaction rules should be applied consistently and fairly upon a sufficient factual and legal showing. And parties should not make requests that undermine any prior representations or positions except upon full disclosure to the Court and appropriate briefing.ā
While the details at the core of the dispute between Cannon and Smith arenāt clear due to much of the case remaining under seal, the latest scolding by the judge underscores the deterioration of the relationship between the prosecution and the jurist at the helm of the case.
In the same order, Cannon also rejected a request by Trumpās attorneys to redact several witness names from his motions. Trump had sought a motion to suppress based on the āunlawful piercing [of] attorney-client privilege.ā
Itās not the first instance of visible tensions between Cannon and Smith. In February, the special counsel called one of her rulings to unredact a portion of witness testimony a āmanifest injustice.ā Now, Cannon is similarly grilling Smith for being willing to backtrack on his own secrecy concerns over certain filings, all for an apparent effort to defend against Trumpās prosecutorial misconduct claims.
Earlier this month, Cannon made the choice to suspend Trumpās trial indefinitely from its initial start date of May 20, a widely expected move as the case has become bogged down in delays due to various disputes over pretrial motions. It was a blow to Smith, who has pushed for trial to begin well ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election.
Trump, who is on trial in New York for one of the four separate indictments he faces, is accused by Smith of mishandling classified documents from his administration and of being uncooperative with government officials trying to retrieve them. He has pleaded not guilty.
