Judge Cannon Smacks Down Special Counsel Jack Smith in First Major Order in Classified Documents Case

Judge Aileen Cannon smacked down Special Counsel Jack Smith this week and denied his request to speed up the sharing of classified documents.

Jack Smith on Monday sought a classified protective order ahead of a hearing this week in the classified documents case to ‘avoid further delay.’

Jack Smith’s prosecutors asked the court to limit Trump’s access to classified materials related to the case.

Judge Cannon, a Trump appointee, dismissed without prejudice Jack Smith’s motion.

The New York Post reported:

A federal judge handed a defeat to prosecutors who indicted former President Donald Trump over his alleged mishandling of classified documents, denying a request Tuesday to speed up the sharing of evidence with the defense.

Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed without prejudice special counsel Jack Smith’s motion to compel a response from Trump’s legal team about a protective order for disclosing classified evidence in the case, court filings show, with the jurist citing a “lack of meaningful conferral” between the two sides.

Prosecutors Jay Bratt, David Harbach and Julie Edelstein appeared in the courtroom opposite Trump attorneys Christopher Kise, Todd Blanche and Stanley Woodward, who is representing the former president’s valet Walt Nauta.

Special Counsel Jack Smith recently indicted Trump on 37 federal counts in Miami.

Trump was charged with 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information and 6 other process crimes stemming from his conversations with his lawyer.

Walt Nauta, a Mar-a-Lago aide, was indicted along with President Trump as a co-conspirator.

Judge Cannon set the trial date for August 14 but Trump’s lawyers asked to indefinitely postpone the trial.

Justice Department lawyers on Thursday filed a motion pushing back on Trump’s legal team and asked the Judge to proceed with jury selection on December 11, 2023.