Earlier today in Florida, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon carefully listened to lengthy oral arguments about the initial charges brought against President Donald Trump in the classified documents case.
While listening to a debate on terminology and odd interpretation of application to the statute of the Espionage Act, a case study in Lawfare as presented, Judge Cannon decided in a later ruling to defer the nuances of legislative interpretation until later in the trial pleadings. Her 2-page Ruling is here.
While many voices say this initial motion to dismiss failed, there are several indications the ruling was more about targeting the issue of statutory definitions to latter phases in the pretrial legal process. Essentially, allowing the DOJ to try and square the circles that are seemingly unsquarable.
Cannon is avoiding the trap of removal from the case by carefully and meticulously following a very routing process to allow the full sunlight of judicial consideration to apply at the moment when the interpretation has the greatest importance. Despite ruling against dismissal, this is not a loss for the Trump legal team, as the issues behind the dismissal motion have not been rectified. These issues will surface again at more critical moments.
If the Lawfare case is going to be dismissed in whole, as opposed to part by part, Julie Kelly was present in the court and also noticed that Judge Cannon appears to be positioning herself to dismiss the case on “selective prosecution” grounds. See this Great Thread HERE.
Summary. 👇
While Cannon did not accept the Trump motion to dismiss today, the elements of today’s motion will face strong scrutiny as the case progresses. Additionally, if the case is to be dismissed, the technical definitions could be moot if the judge uses another more transparently obvious context, “selective prosecution,” to dismiss the case.
I sincerely hope Judge Cannon is not playing politics but carefully setting up a just verdict.
She probably has a dangerous tightrope to navigate. With dire consequences if she appears partial to Trump or fails to allow continued persecution of Trump.
Yes, every action is thoroughly scrutinized, so go slow, methodically crossing every “t” and dotting every “i.”
Drawing the case out helps as well. Create your own audit trail. Don’t know the “selective prosecution” statute or argument works but given the improper handling of classified material of multiple key officials (both President, VP, & SoS) in the recent past, if there was ever a poster child for selective prosecution, this is it.
Stop falling into the democrats trap of “mishandled documents” Declassified documents don’t need any special handling…they’re declassified.
Verdict? This case doesn’t deserve a verdict after a trial. It should have been laughed out of court on day one.
Correct.
I’m concerned she might be gifted an “accident” and I suspect she is too.
As crazy as this sounds, I’m glad she did not dismiss on the grounds of the motion addresses.
I hope it gets dismissed when the BS argument about the records classification goes in Trump’s favor.
The contents of the Binder being brought out into the ‘SUNLIGHT’ is the “PRIZE!”
The whole house of inquiry will be exposed in that event.
We want this case dismissed before trial not during or after!!!
And what I just described would get it dismissed before trial.
If documents were legal for him to have, no case.
Its not crazy, BK.
I also was not disappointed in todays ruling by the Judge.
She dismissed this motion without prejudice, which means it can be brought up again, further along in the trial, as a request for summary judgement, or in summation,..and remains an issue for appeal, as well.
I want to see these insane arguments, that the National Security apparatus, that get their authority FROM POTUS, somehow have authority over him, completely obliterated.
To me, getting that, just before he reenters the Oval, is the prize.
Not exactly. Ideally it should be dismissed after a jury has been selected and seated. At the point the double jeopardy clause becomes active and the case and charges are dead and cannot be appealed or relitigated.
Did somebody say “Binder”?? Indict him again!!
-Pierre Delecto
agreed. she can dismiss at anytime. I too would prefer some sunlight first.
So we have the following classified document recent history:
Bill Clinton – No Prosecution – President
Hillary Clinton -No Prosecution – Not President
Mike Pence – No Prosecution – Not President
Joe Biden – No Prosecution – Not President at the time
PT – Prosecution – President
1 out of 5 recently and only PT hit with prosecution.
You tell me, selective prosecution??
Don’t forget the Reagan tapes
Don’t forget the tons of documents still under Obama’s control in Chicago.
After today, selective prosecution getting the coverage it needs.
Cannon, so far, shows the judicial smarts and brawn to rule for Trump on that issue if the case is warranted.
It’s warranted. Let’s see what the judge does.
As far as the rulings today, they make sense.
Legal positions and issues, and there’s a lot of them, need to be tested, definitely by further pre-trial motions, so right now there’s no rush on motions heard today. Let the lawyers dig into more.
Nothing fishy about Judge Cannon.
‘After today, selective prosecution getting the coverage it needs.’
Obama also mishandled classified documents according to government, but it is rarely reported
Maybe the reports are misleading and the security is slightly better than what was described, but according to multiple reports I’ve read and the two videos I’ve seen showing the supposed location, the documents are kept in an unsecured warehouse without active security or alarms.
Even if none of that is true, it’s still disturbing that the black messiah and his disciples can do no wrong…even when everyone knows the truth.
I want to know why 44’s college records are sealed and what was in the white envelopes everyone but President Trump received at Daddy Bush’s funeral.
A dismissal because of selective prosecution would be very good, but better would be a dismissal because the documents were declassified. It does not matter if the documents had “classification markings” if they were in essentially the public domain. If MIB wanted to not divulge illegal targeting of a private citizen which was done as a matter of policy, they should not have illegally targeted a private citizen. Duh.
I’d like a dismissal on both.
What bothers me is the Clinton Sock drawer case clearly makes the President the sole determiner of his authorization to posses his papers.
So an ex-President cannot be overridden by a higher authority to declare he has unauthorized possession.
I believe that precedent will be used at the right opportunity along with a few others.
Someting about a separation of powers …
There is no higher authority, I think thats your point.
He is CiC, his authority is plenary, stemming from the Constitution, and thats the source of his absolute, unchecked authority over National Security.
If he tells a General “Jump” the General says “how high?” on the way up.
If he says its declassified, it is.
They only derive their authority, as DERIVATIVE authority, FROM him.
You can not tell your boss what to do, he tells you.
Its painfully obvious, ..but we need a Court decision which affirms the obvious.
Yes, but even further.
Judicial watch wanted access to the tapes held in ex-President’s sock drawer.
So the authority over what he keeps continues even when a new President is CiC.
That explains why we have 10M+ illegal migrants in the country, Xiden has the same ‘no higher authority’.
Bingo!
Can’t imagine what they would do to PDJT if he were to write off underwear purchases on his taxes, like Slick Willy did.
The Presidential Records Act works like this:
The Espionage Act approach was very narrow. But if she rule “selective prosecution” that could broadly extend to exonerate all the other Trump-circle and J6 defendants.
Astute point.
additionally, it seems like dismissal on “selective” grounds would be a more direct shot at the entire premise of lawfare… whereas dismissal on other grounds would keep the door open for their continued harassment.
The obscenely political nature of EVERYTHING being carried out by leftist operatives against President Trump should be obvious to any intelligent, sane individual.
Let’s hope that Judge Cannon is simply playing the long game and will deliver genuine justice.
Let’s continue to pray for our country and President Trump.
Genuine justice would have been to laugh the case out of court a year ago when it first hit her bench.
Julie Kelly…
She has been like a pitbull on the J6 political prisoners being hunted down, imprisoned, and tortured in the DC Gulag. She shames everyone who proclaims to be a “journalist”. And now she’s got her teeth into the political persecution of our President.
She is formidable, diligent in her impeachable research and reporting…and a warrior .
Are you certain, Sundance, you and she don’t have a family connection somewhere?
It wouldn’t surprise me.
She has been doing good.
I might start giving her more of a look see to evaluate more.
Please do, BK. You won’t be disappointed.
Oh…and by the way not “impeachable”…
UNimpeachable!!
The window for editing that unforgivable error shut faster than I calculated.
I knew what you meant.
And I’ve made the same error several times.
Got embarrassed one time for not catching before someone called me out.
I believe WE, MAGA are actually building up quite a cadre of really good reporters,…
Julie Kelly, Emerald Robinson, Laura Loomer, Sheryl Atkinson, Todd Bergeron, and a bunch more I can’t remember right now,…and thats the point!
Too many, too remember is pretty damn good!
I agree, dutch. But as she was referenced, I felt compelled to give her a special shout out for those who might not be familiar with her name or her sterling work.
Also, Catherine Englebrecht of Tue The Vote and Judicial Watch Team.
Or impeccable? I suspect that is the word you were thinking of
Unimpeachable.
But thank you…they are that as well.
It seems unnecessarily brief to me also.
And she’s beautiful too.
Both sides can usually submit proposed jury instructions, although the judge has the final say. She can very narrowly define the statutes to make it difficult for Smith to meet his evidentiary burden.
Jury instructions must very clear and specific enough so a group of non-lawyers can apply the law to the facts of the case.
Once she issues the jury instructions, Trump could move again to dismiss, based on the witness and evidence list submitted for trial.
Trump can also move for a directed verdict in his favor at the close of Smith’s case on this basis, but that unfortunately requires going to trial.
It’s a long march.
I’m leaning towards there won’t be a jury to instruct.
Possible. There are likely other pre-trial motions that could whittle away Smith’s case. I assume Trump’s lawyer have filed Brady motions, so there may be a lot of documents that Trump’s trial team has to go through.
Since the lawfare crowd has mastered the art of deception, activism and smoke and mirrors trials and convictions. Judge Cannon is smartly using the law to make her decisions, that can’t be overturned on appeal, if it comes to that.
Any democrat judge will overturn her decisions, whether set in law or not!!!!
The legal nuances are sickening.
They are sickening to us everyday Americans; but President Trump seems to excel in that arena, having been honed to a fine point with all his pre-Presidential business adventures; and have come to the opinion the use of lawfare is something these politicians may not have realized that private citizen Donald J. Trump mastered decades ago.
As we know, they chose to prosecute DJT when numerous other noted violations have not been prosecuted. My thot – Presidential Immunity issues must be reconciled, and then the issue of selective enforcement – ie; what need for prosecution factors differ between PDJT and the other cases? Oh Yeah, the FBI needs it’s damning files of participation in a coup returned.
Do you have a first name of Rod by any chance?
You mean, We hate his guts and want to deny him the air he breathes aren’t hardened case law?
No shock here.
Julie makes a good argument. I hope she’s right. But the standard is difficult to meet.
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/517/456/
I don’t think that case will apply here as it was a race-based case dealing with discrimination. None of those issues apply here.
From your link, “For a defendant to be entitled to discovery on a claim that he was singled out for prosecution on the basis of his race, he must make a threshold showing that the Government declined to prosecute similarly situated suspects of other races.”
Similarly, it can be shown in the Documents case that the government did decline to prosecute similarly situated suspects in other cases – Hillary Clinton, Mike Pence, Joe Biden.
And the DOJ/Smith is doing so for an “impermissible purpose” – to interfere in the presidential election. His asking the SCOTUS to immediately rule on Presidential Immunity and bypass the DC Circuit Court of Appeals in order to speed up his case before the election is just one evidence of this.
There’s only the Clinton Socks case that is a reported case, I believe, to compare it to..Presidential Records Act, declassification of anything they want declassified.
Killary, 30-piece Pence, the dipshit sitting in the Oval Office have not been charged…selective prosecution.
Helped along, I believe, by Hur’s testimony the last few days. Hard to miss the comparison.
So Jack Smith has won a pyrrhic victory.
I have a lot of confidence in Julie Kelly’s observations…
Cannon is a fraud…..Let’s stop pretending…..We all know this is election interference, they know it’s election interference….Jack Smith, the DOJ/CIA knows it’s election interference….
Come on! We all know this is complete fabrication and frivolous litigation by corrupt Jake Smith and our corrupt Government….This is 100% election interference…..Why are these Judges pretending and this includes Cannon…..Just call it what it is Cannon and ‘Dismiss with Prejudice’……Seriously, stop the insane pretending!
Patience, Francis.
Obviously you are not tempermentally suited for legal jousting.
We are very early in round one, of a 10 round title fight, and the two combatants are still taking each others measure.
She wants to get it right, hopefully, so that this puts this BS to bed once and for all. I would really like the Presidential immunity ruling from the SCOTUS though.
Trump seldom brings the hammer down prematurely. Dismissal will come at the most effective time, after SCOTUS rules and behind-the-scene secrets are revealed to the disgust of the voting public.
What are penalties for prosecutors engaged in selective prosecution?
A job at CNN ?
Your comment is both funny and sad….because it’s true.
Stripping Pensions?
None. They have immunity.
Penalties? None.
Rewards? Boatloads.
A lifetime membership to all the bath houses in the Beltway, with reciprocity in every state??
A seasoned fisherman knows the right moment to set the hook.
May God will it so.
Have you seen stories about killer bees? This is the Left. No judge in his or her right mind wants to p*** off the killer bees. She can’t not know what’s going to happen if she takes a stick to the hive. Maybe she could consider the witness protection program. Hur probably already is in it.
Your point is well taken and not at all far-fetched yy. These folks are so far from normal it beggars description.
I like this Judge; she seems to be carefully doing all the groundwork so when, if, the entire group of charges are dismissed, whatever reason she gives will be able to withstand the inevitable appeal, all the way up to the Supreme Court as all these lawfare moves against President Trump and all the defendants from J6 on up, will eventually need to land.
The sunlight of Truth will beat lawfare every time, it’s just a slow grind. “The mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceedingly small. Though with patience he stands waiting, with exactness grinds he all.” Patience is how the race is won.
‘……….she seems to be carefully doing all the groundwork so when, if, the entire group of charges are dismissed, whatever reason she gives will be able to withstand the inevitable appeal…….”
That’s my take on it too. She’s taking the time now to be thorough. It’s what a great justice is supposed to do, get it right the first time so a higher court doesn’t have to fix any mistakes later on.
She reminds me of the judge in the Rittenhouse case.
Thorough.
The obvious great question here, why are you prosecuting this guy and not Bill and Hillary G.Bush M.Pence B.Obama and Biden, how many others that where never charged. Many crimes committed by the DC Crime Inc; that never ever get investigated, because now the corruption is infesting the LEO organizations.
Every case against Trump fall under this selective prosecution.
The Judge fully recognizes that glaring detail and will appropriately use it as a cudgel against this rabid prosecutor
If Crazy Jack Smith’s accelerated trial timeline had been followed , Judge Cannon and PDJT would probably not have had the benefit of Hur’s revealing report about old Joe and HIS antics … The Judge is no dummy and perhaps giving Jack more rope, as the saying goes , so it becomes abundantly clear that this case was designed as a political hit job from the get go …. ?
Oh, gee whiz, nobody saw this coming.
Some good legal analysis in these comments.
Air tight is the key to the final outcome.
“Judge Cannon appears to be positioning herself to dismiss the case on “selective prosecution” grounds.”
I am sure there will be a number of other things that come to light during this case that will make this selective prosecution even more obvious.
Good on her to put that flaming bag of poo in front of the left. It’s only a matter of time before they step in it.
It’s also a good strategy that allows time to let the SCOTUS rule on immunity.
Because the decision to box up and deliver documents to Trump was made before he left office. You can’t unlawfully possess documents if you’re immune from the laws against possessing them.
DOJ is, in effect, changing the law after the fact to prosecute Trump for perfectly legal decisions and actions taken on his behalf by GSA before he left office.
Nobody from GSA has been charged with unlawfully giving those “national security” materials to Trump. That’s how you know it’s a fraud.
If the President can remove documents from the White House and by doing so declassify them (Clinton socks judge) and no bureaucrat in government can overrule him according to the Constitution what is going on with this case????
Am I on Mars?
I believe we are on planet Bizzarro. Truth is stranger than fiction.
cutting the Gordian Knot is a very tricky and precise operation
She’ not going to dismiss anything for Trump. Cannon could have ended this farce the day the case crossed her desk. She’s either in on the persecution or she’s afraid of what the gov’t will do to her. The chances she dismisses the case based on “selective prosecution” are slim to none after she just gave the charges legitimacy by not tossing the case.
Put on your big boy pants and dismiss this worthless stupid case, Judge Cannon.
If she dismisses the case the Solicitor General will yank her off the bench and get her disbarred. If the dems keep the WH in November the SG will do her in regardless of the trial outcome. You don’t defy the DC Machine.
Judge Cannon called this one correctly. The case needs a little more time in the oven before being thrown out.
The Goon Caste that controls the Democratic Party and the Apparatchiks in DC, have pushed honesty and decency over the cliff. Now they are on the precipice of pushing the nation (and themselves) over the cliff.
Not an honest person in the judiciary.
Good information and clarification.
Where there is Dharma, there is Victory.
Always MAGA 👊👊🇺🇸🇺🇸❤️❤️🙏🏻👊
One of the reasons Judge Cannon could not dismiss was the addition of the Obstruction charges in the indictment, which led to the indictment of two other individuals. This is tacked onto the Espionage Act counts in the indictment, so more evidence needs scrutinized.
The obstruction charge is the weirdest yet in all of these election-related indictments of Trump and others. The notion that a cart full of bankers boxes of “documents” were rolled around Mar-a-Lago in a kind of shell game requires a whole lot more evidence before being taken seriously for these reasons: