Special counsel Jack Smith was put on blast in his classified documents case against former President Donald Trump, with the judge going so far as to warn that he could be sanctioned by the court if he doesn't change course.
Florida U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Tuesday denied Smith's motion to implement a gag order preventing Trump from criticizing him and elements of the case. Investigative reporter Julie Kelly first reported on the order which found Smith's request to be “wholly lacking in substance and professional courtesy.”
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Smith did not give Trump's attorneys appropriate time to consider the motion, Cannon wrote. “Sufficient time needs to be afforded to permit reasonable evaluation of the requested relief by opposing counsel… Because the filing of the Special Counsel's Motion did not adhere to these basic requirements, it is due to be denied without prejudice.”
Going further, Judge Cannon warned Smith that he runs the risk of sanctions if he does not stop burying evidence requiring counsel in footnotes rather than including them as addendums to his filings. Moreover, he will be required to report unbiased statements on each filing of less than 200 words by Trump's defense team.
BREAKING: Judge Cannon, as expected, denies Jack Smith's proposed gag order, warns sanctions could be next if he keeps violating the rules. pic.twitter.com/T2Yxb1zvm6
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) May 28, 2024
Smith's attempt to place a gag order on Trump mirrors one he successfully sought in the former president's federal election interference case. However, Judge Cannon's approach is markedly different from the Obama-appointed judge who agreed with Smith. The Trump-appointed judge has been more skeptical of the government's arguments that Trump conspired to keep sensitive documents from his time in the White House even after the U.S. National Archives (NARA) asked for his help in seeing them returned.
In recent weeks, Judge Cannon told a member of Smith's prosecutorial team to “calm down” after the lawyer lost his cool while opposing a motion by a Trump codefendant. A plethora of redacted documents have also been ordered unsealed, cutting into Smith's ability to hide evidence from Trump's attorneys. Among the disclosures was evidence that prosecutors threatened an attorney for a Trump codefendant and conspired with NARA officials to keep Trump's representatives out of the loop in the weeks leading up to the FBI's August 8th, 2022 raid of Mar-a-Lago.
The pretrial rulings by Judge Cannon come a few weeks after she indefinitely suspended Trump’s classified documents trial, citing the delays resulting from his ongoing hush money trial in Manhattan. Smith may never see his trial reach a verdict before Election Day, as Trump was already enjoying lengthy delays due to the Supreme Court’s hearing on his claims of presidential immunity.
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