Special Counsel Jack Smith indirectly threatened Judge Aileen Cannon in reaction to her jury instructions.
Judge Aileen Cannon issued a jury instruction order in Jack Smith’s classified documents case last month, sparking intense reactions from left-leaning legal analysts, who reacted dramatically.
Judge Aileen Cannon gave two options for jury instructions.
The first option:
In a prosecution of a former president for allegedly retaining documents in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 793(e), a jury is permitted to examine a record retained by a former president in his/her personal possession at the end of his/her presidency and make a factual finding as to whether the government has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that it is personal or presidential using the definitions set forth in the Presidential Records Act (PRA).
The second option:
A president has sole authority under the PRA to categorize records as personal or presidential during his/her presidency. Neither a court nor a jury is permitted to make or review such a categorization decision. Although there is no formal means in the PRA by which a president is to make that categorization, an outgoing president’s decision to exclude what he/she considers to be personal records from presidential records transmitted to the National Archives and Records Administration constitutes a president’s categorization of those records as personal under the PRA.
“Cannon seems inclined to push the case to trial but is basically asking if she can stack the deck so Trump wins,” CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen said.
MSNBC’s legal reporter Jordan Rubin responded too: “Judge Aileen Cannon is at it again.”
Jordan Rubin said Cannon is “apparently contemplating instructions that could effectively win Trump’s case for him…”
A J6 defense attorney told investigative reporter Julie Kelly that if Cannon gives these jury instructions, Jack Smith is “f*cked.”
Jack Smith fired back at Cannon’s jury instruction order with a subtle ultimatum: either she follows his lead, or he’ll take the matter to the appellate court, seeking a “mandamus” to dictate how the jury instructions should be managed.
Jack Smith is extremely hysterical because he has very little influence over Judge Cannon’s final jury instructions, so he is now threatening to take the jury instruction fight to the appellate court.
As reported by Real Clear Investigations journalist Julie Kelly:
Smith demanded that Cannon rule now on jury instructions (she doesn’t have to) or dismiss the counts so he can appeal. If she doesn’t, he might seek “mandamus” at appellate court–asking 11th Circuit to tell Cannon what to do in the case.
Last year, Jack Smith filed 31 charges against Trump under the Espionage Act, related to presidential records legally kept at Mar-a-Lago.
Recently, Trump’s lawyers submitted numerous motions to dismiss Jack Smith’s classified documents case.
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