Judge Halts Trump’s Classified Docs Trial After DOJ Admits To Evidence Tampering
By: Brianna Lyman (The Federalist)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon postponed Special Counsel Jack Smith's classified document lawfare case against former President Donald Trump indefinitely, days after the Department of Justice admitted it tampered with evidence.
Cannon issued an order Tuesday that announced the schedule for the "second set of pre-trial deadlines" to address evidentiary issues and arguments from the Trump team for dismissing the case. Missing from the schedule, however, was a new date for the trial, which was previously set to begin May 20.
"The Court also determines that finalization of a trial date at this juncture — before resolution of the myriad and interconnected pre-trial and CIPA [Classified Information Procedures Act] issues remaining and forthcoming — would be imprudent and inconsistent with the Court's duty to fully and fairly consider the various pending pre-trial motions before the Court, critical CIPA issues, and additional pretrial and trial preparations necessary to present this case to a jury," Cannon wrote in the order.
Cannon's order comes days after Smith admitted that federal prosecutors tampered with evidence in his case against Trump, which argues the former president mishandled classified documents. As independent journalist Julie Kelly pointed out on X, prosecutors admitted in a court filing Friday that some of the documents seized during the FBI's unprecedented raid on Mar-a-Lago are not in the same order in which they were found. Others may have been mislabeled or possibly misplaced entirely, as my colleague Tristan Justice noted.
Jack Smith confessed as much in yesterday's filing. He would not have but for Nauta's attorney busting DOJ for tampering with evidence.
Defense building evidence to support motion to dismiss on prosecutorial misconduct-which is pending before Cannon. pic.twitter.com/Igjh0VBmBj — Julie Kelly (@julie_kelly2) May 4, 2024
The special counsel's office wrote in the Friday filing that a government "filter team" in charge of handling the boxes once they were in FBI possession "was not focused on maintaining the sequence of documents within each box."
The filing also states that items taken during the raid were scanned into records, but "there are some boxes where the order of items within that box is not the same as in the associated scans." A footnote for that sentence states: "The Government acknowledges that this is inconsistent with what Government counsel previously understood and represented to the Court."
Smith indicted Trump in June 2023 for allegedly mishandling classified documents just one year after armed federal agents raided Trump's private Florida residence in search of said documents.
The DOJ, under President Joe Biden's leadership, declined to charge Biden for his own classified documents scandal after a special counsel decided it would be too hard to convince a jury that the aging president committed a "serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness" because he is an "elderly man with a poor memory."
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It's pathetic when the person investigating somebody for mishandling classified material admits to mishandling classified material.
But many knew this was pathetic from the start.
This morning the New York Times blamed the judge.
So the judge forced Smith and is team if idiots to mishandle classified material. That's a new level of stupidity.
Exactly what I have come to expect from the New York Times, just like this story highlighting what I have come to expect from the FBI.
There are those who will not accept this story.
Those people, generally, are referred to as imbeciles.
Democrats and leftists aren't used to judges holding them to the letter of the law.
They are used to judges like Merchan that let Democrat AG/DA's and prosecutors make shit up as they go along; and silence defendants and their lawyers.
I couldn't agree more.
You mean like the Biden donor presiding over the Dem persecution in NYC and the # 3 man at Biden's DOJ now prosecuting the case for the state of New York? Ya, I'd call that a stacked deck.
Here is the judge's latest decision via Byron York:
"Trump defense plans to call Smith as witness. But Judge Merchan has severely limited what Smith will be able to say. Has forbidden Smith from talking about whether FEC would consider Cohen/Daniels payment a campaign contribution or expenditure."
I heard that.
Judge can't have any evidence that will completely shut down the whole case come out.
I am surprised the judge is allowing Smith to testify at all.
He is still running a kangaroo court. So rights, laws, and impartiality are all out the window already. Why bother with the pretense?
It isn't like the jury gets to go home every night to listen to TDS driven media drool over what a conviction will mean. Democrats/leftists have already found him guilty for anything and everything. They are sick of waiting for their justice to be carried out.
Yesterday prosecution witness Stormy Daniels offered up an ironic statement. She admitted that she hated Trump. Once could argue that so does just about everyone else in that courtroom.
Judge Merchan let her go on for a full day and then said the jury may have to disregard much of what they saw and heard...
After letting Biden, CLinton etc walk for the same crime, it was always preposterous that the DOJ threw the book at Trump. From both a fairness perspective, and to help their naked political desire to interfere in the election, the DOJ should never have charged Trump for document possession and simply prosecuted him for obstruction, which was probably always their strongest case.
Merely dictator action trying to remove an opposing candidate. You know, the same shit they CLAIM Trump would do.
The precedent was set with Clinton. That's what makes this preposterous. Again merely dictator action.
Here's more....
BOMBSHELL: FBI Staged Fake Photo of Classified Documents for PR Purposes – HotAir
There is nothing about the Biden administrations lack of integrity that surprises me anymore. The only thing that is worse are his enablers.
Absolutely unacceptable to real and true, thinking Americans. Completely acceptable to angry and manipulative Marxists.
Oh Lord. That is not remotely the same thing as admitting to evidence tampering. Evidence tampering has elements. An accidental rearrangement of documents that has no impact on the outcome of the case is not going to qualify as evidence tampering. Since Trump is charged with possessing a collection of documents that he wasn’t supposed to have, it hardly matters what order they were found in.
If prosecutors had admitted to anything, there wouldn’t still be motions pending on the matter.
”May,” ? “Possibly” ?
Shit your friend made up isn’t proof of evidence tampering either.
So Smith's team is allowed to mishandle classified information and break chain of custody?
Sorry, this judge unlike the others is going to hold the prosecution to the letter of the law.
If Smith's team has nothing to hide they won't mind independent inspectors going through all of the seized documents and material.
There will be a hearing on the matter if that is alleged. You don’t need a hearing if the prosecution admits to wrongdoing. [✘]
Thank your for showing you really don't know the scope of the problem Smith's team had admitted to.
While you are correct that evidence tampering has elements, this isn't about "evidence tampering". They are supposed to be prosecuting Trump for mishandling classified material. Smith's team did what they are charging Trump of and admitted it to the court.
The hypocrisy of the government and Smith not being able to follow the law for handling classified materials is rather glaring isn't it?
It's coupled with the ignorance of their supporters that just can't quite grasp the problem despite it being obvious and pointed out to them.
I didn’t write the headline. I responded to it.
It’s hard to have a conversation about this admission without some text or quote. If you can point to this alleged admission, I’ll be happy to look at it and consider it.
And didn't read the article.
It's in the article.
Nowhere in the article does the prosecution admit to evidence tampering. I invite you again to show me the act admission. Do not just say “read the article.” I did. That admission does not exist.
Did Federal Agencies Plant Classified Documents To Frame Trump?