Judge Cannon ‘Rules For Jack Smith’ – Don’t Be Fooled

I woke up this morning to see that federal Judge Aileen “Loose” Cannon appears to have come to her senses, as she has for a welcome change issued a ruling favoring Special Counsel Jack Smith instead of siding with Team Trump. I’m not buying the notion she’s had a change of heart and you shouldn’t either.  There’s more than one reason to believe this ruling is nothing but a smoke screen.

According to this article from Newsweek Cannon has agreed with Jack Smith there’s no reason for Trump co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos DeOliviera (and their lawyers) to have access to a trove of classified information that was in those boxes. You know, the ones they moved around to hide them from not just the govt. but to a (former) Trump attorney who was trying to make sure Trump had returned all the material he’d stolen. And then to cover up the fact they’d done all that by (trying to but failing) to erase video evidence of their actions from the Mar A Lago server in the IT room.  Cannon’s ruling stated Smith and his team had met the burden of showing why Nauta and De Oliveira’s (and their lawyers) personal review of the materials produced in classified discovery wouldn’t “relevant and helpful’ to their defense.”

“Unlike the charges brought against Defendant Trump, the document-related charges against Defendants Nauta and De Oliveira do not require proof that they willfully retained documents ‘relating to the national defense.’ The Special Counsel also indicates that he does not intend to present evidence suggesting that Defendants Nauta and De Oliveira acted with an inculpatory purpose specific to them and to the 102 classified-marked documents seized from Mar-a-Lago,” Cannon added.

The ruling goes on to say Nauta and De Oliveira hadn’t come up with an acceptable explanation as to why being able to review the classified materials connected to the case would help counter the allegation that they conspired to help Trump retain the sensitive materials taken from the White House, and then tried to hide and conceal them from a federal grand jury.  Common sense, and legally sound. Wow. It’s easy to see how one might think Cannon had come to her senses and was no longer Trump’s “pet judge.”

The article even takes a dig at Cannon:

Brian D. Greer, former attorney at the CIA‘s Office of General Counsel, posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Cannon did the right thing by not permitting Nauta & De Oliveira to access the classified MAL docs.

“But don’t overlook the epic self-own here. Because of this effort, she has now been extensively briefed on the contents of those docs & why their disclosure is harmful to national security.”

Here’s why you should NOT be breathing a sigh of relief. First, Cannon has yet to rule on the part of Smith’s motion that also wants to deny Trump and his lawyers access to that same material.  I actually think she might, and for more than one reason.  First and most obvious is that as the presiding judge the CIPA (Classified Information Procedures Act) person in charge has been permitted to if not fully then sufficiently read her in on the full measure of how sensitive some of the material is. How damaging it would be to National Security if it fell into the wrong hands. So much so that even a hard core Trump fluffer like Cannon would be shocked. That, for me at least is at best a maybe but I’ll readily concede it’s possible.

I think the more likely explanation is that while Cannon is “all in” for Trump she’s not stupid and knows full well legal experts on TV have been saying if she rules in Trump’s favor on something like this Smith will have no choice but to appeal to the 11th Circuit. (I have not doubt her handler/advisor from The Federalist Society has been privately telling her the same thing) They’ve already slapped Cannon down twice, and hard and in damn near record speed both times. They’d almost certainly do so again BUT might suggest, if not order the case be re-assigned to another judge.  That friends is a risk Cannon isn’t prepared to take.

For all that, there’s another and more insidious reason for this ruling. Cannon doesn’t just want to delay this trial in Florida out past the November election so that a “newly elected President Trump” can have the case dismissed. No, she wants to prevent any and all Trump trials. I’ll bet she’s beside herself over Alvin Bragg hauling her “hero” into criminal court in Manhattan in late March!  I can easily imagine her imitating Trump, and throwing a bottle of ketchup against the wall while shouting: He said he was going to wait and go last! NOW he’s decided to go FIRST! 

Well, she can’t do anything about that. Also, even before the flare up with the Georgia state level case many thought it was a toss-up on whether that one would go to trial in late summer. That leaves the DC case on January 6 related charges, which many consider to be the one most serious for Trump. Down in Florida and in a jurisdiction down there friendly to Trump there’s a better chance of a hung jury if Team Trump can slip a MAGA or two on to the jury. That’s much less likely in DC. So, even though EVERYONE knows Cannon had no intention of having Trump’s Florida trial start in late May she’s gone to great lengths to maintain that illusion.

Now, more than ever she needs to “block”, or “run interference” for Trump. We still don’t know what SCOTUS is going to rule when it comes to Trump’s “Presidential Immunity” in the DC case but conventional wisdom is that they will uphold the District and appellate rulings. The question is when and how. If they simply deny Trump’s request for a stay and allow the DC Circuit opinion to stand the case goes back to judge Chutkan and she can get it back on track. For a trial that would start in… late May or early June!

In other words, right around the time Cannon has been PRETENDING she’ll be starting Trump’s trial in Florida.  I don’t know how all this would play out. Prosecutors and courts do communicate to sort out who goes first in various jurisdictions when a defendant is facing multiple trials in different places. Here, when it comes to federal crimes Trump is facing the same prosecutor.  Unless I’m mistaken Jack Smith gets to decide where he wants to try Trump first. However, if past practice allows for someone in Cannon’s position to say “I had that time frame blocked out first” then it gets more complicated.

Now, more than ever Cannon needs to maintain the PRETENSE she intends to hold a trial for Trump beginning on May 20. To keep him from going on trial in DC around the same time or shortly afterwards. That makes this a good time to PRETEND she’s playing things straight and really, really really is “serious” about having a trial in Florida at the end of May. Or maybe early June. Just somehow claim she gets priority over DC when it comes to the two federal cases against Trump. IF she can get away with that, to block judge Chutkan from scheduling a DC trial in late May or early June you can bet everything you have that “Loose” Cannon will find an excuse to delay Trump’s Florida trial.

So that’s what’s going on. Cannon is trying to prevent another beat down from the 11th Circuit (and possible removal from the case), AND to maintain the illusion she will start Trump’s trial in late May – in order to keep him from going on trial in DC.