Judge Cannon Gets Angry at Jack Smith for Requesting Secret Filing of Trump Case

Judge Aileen Cannon is sending a message to special counsel Jack Smith: She won’t be fooled by legal trickery.

In legal documents filed with the court, the special counsel raised concerns about “potential conflicts of interest that may arise from attorney Stanley Woodward, Jr.’s prior and current representation of three individuals who may be subpoenaed by the Government to testify at his client’s trial. Waltine Nauta.”

In addition, the special counsel sought leave to file a sealed “supplement,” which contained additional information intended to assist the court’s investigation. The supplement, according to the Special Counsel, had to be kept in public view “to comply with grand jury secrecy.” However, the court found that the motion and supplement did not meet the legal or factual thresholds necessary to warrant sealing.

As a result, the Special Counsel’s motion to file under seal was denied. The court also ordered the clerk to remove sealed entries 95 and 96 from the record.

The court has ordered Waltine Nauta to file a response to Garcia’s motion for a hearing by August 17, 2023. The response should address, among other things, the legal propriety of using a large jury out of the district to further investigate or request post-indictment hearings on matters relevant to the matter currently charged in that district.

The special counsel must respond to Nauta’s argument in a rejoinder in support of the motion, which must be filed by Aug. 22, 2023. The other defendants in the case have the option, but not the ‘obligation, to submit their own briefs on the grand jury issue by August 17, 2023, which may be submitted collectively or individually.

The court issued this order from courtrooms in Fort Pierce, Florida on August 7, 2023.

Reporter Julie Kelly commented on the legal development.

Nor will Cannon tolerate the DOJ’s nonstop requests for secrecy. He already denied a government motion seeking to keep the names of more than 80 witnesses under seal. pic.twitter.com/3BIZLcNOUe

— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) August 7, 2023

“I told you Judge Cannon is legit,” Kelly remarked. “She will not tolerate Jack Smith’s nonsense. This is gold: It asks the defense to raise possible grand jury abuse by the DOJ to conduct almost all of the investigation in DC and then move to the FLA at the last minute for the indictment.”

“Cannon will also not tolerate the DOJ’s non-stop requests for secrecy,” Kelly added. “She already denied a government motion seeking to keep the names of more than 80 witnesses under seal.”

“This is about the DOJ’s request for a Garica hearing — an attempt to get Stanley Woodward, Nauta’s attorney, to recuse himself from the case,” he added. “We recall that Smith’s attorney, Jay Bratt, is accused of threatening Woodward about the judge request if he failed to get Nauta to cooperate.”

Political reporter Kyle Cheney also commented on the special counsel hearing.

Judge CANNON leaves for special counsel this morning, striking two of prosecutors’ sealed filings and asking for an explanation of “the legal propriety of using an out-of-district grand jury proceeding to continue to investigate” the documents case https://t.co/jawTpEvPWq pic.twitter.com/OciEt2vJql

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 7, 2023

“Judge CANNON appears before a special counsel this morning, striking two of prosecutors’ sealed filings and asking for an explanation of ‘the legal propriety of using an out-of-district grand jury proceeding to continue investigating’ the case of documents,” he said. reported

Expert Matt Beebe also weighed in on the legal development.

I think we will see very soon whether Trump’s lawyers will successfully get back at the DOJ or continue to be pushed around by them. Judge Cannon isn’t going to bail them out, but he’s giving them a good chance. pic.twitter.com/dHNwcRt7pM

— Matt Beebe (@TheMattBeebe) August 7, 2023

“I think we will see very soon whether Trump’s lawyers will successfully go back to the DOJ or continue to be pushed by them,” he remarked. “Judge Cannon isn’t going to bail them out, but he’s giving them a good chance.”

Last week, Jack Smith urged Judge Cannon not to further delay Trump’s classified documents case, which is scheduled to begin on May 20 next year.

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