A third massive trove of documents in the classified documents case of former President Donald Trump is expected to be released shortly, according to a ruling from Florida’s U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon.
The ruling, reported by investigative reporter Julie Kelly, is another blow to Biden Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith and his repeated attempts to keep redactions in place that have previously revealed coordination between his office, the White House, and the U.S. National Archives. Cannon’s ruling will make public two nonpublic defense motions declaring Smith’s “Unlawful Piercing of Attorney-Client Privilege” and a second seeking dismissal based on “Prosecutorial Misconduct and Due Process Violations.”
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NEW: Judge Cannon preparing to unseal nonpublic defense motions filed by Trump related to Mar a Lago raid, DC Judge Beryl Howell order that pierced atty-client privilege in docs case, and a prosecutorial abuse motion.
Keeps getting good… pic.twitter.com/7RrNIagnWe
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) May 9, 2024
President Trump has previously asserted that Smith interfered with his ability to strategize with his attorneys. In October, Smith claimed that 25 Trump co-defendants cited confidentiality in their refusals to turn over reams of documents related to J6 cases. The former president has argued that a previous ruling by D.C. District Judge Beryl Howell violated those privileges, according to Kelly. Smith has countered, arguing that Trump invalidated the confidentiality when he asserted that any actions related to the 2020 elections were taken at the advice of his lawyers.
Trump’s defense team is now tasked with proposing “red box” redactions that they believe should be made public. Other redactions won by Trump’s co-defendant show that a prosecutor with Smith’s team threatened his attorney with the loss of a judgeship nomination if he did not back away from the case. Others have revealed how the White House and National Archives coordinated to hide evidence from Trump’s lawyers shortly before a referral to the DOJ, something the Archives representative acknowledged was “atypical” during records gathering investigations. Trump’s attorneys also cite Smith’s attempts to withhold the “15 boxes” of classified documents containing national secrets.
The pretrial rulings by Judge Cannon come shortly 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. In the meantime, Trump’s counsel will continue to throw everything and the kitchen sink at Smith.
Alina Habba, one of the former president’s attack dog lawyers, has argued that the FBI obscured its raid on Mar-a-Lago by ordering the shutting down of security cameras that would have documented the search. Referring to Special Counsel Jack Smith as a “Democrat activist,” Habba outlined the ways in which prejudicial bias may taint the case against Trump, something the president’s former attorneys allege has already happened during grand jury proceedings.