{"id":2210699,"date":"2024-04-01T14:50:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-01T18:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-sees-good-news-in-classified-documents-case-after-judges-recent-order\/"},"modified":"2024-04-01T14:50:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-01T18:50:44","slug":"trump-sees-good-news-in-classified-documents-case-after-judges-recent-order","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-sees-good-news-in-classified-documents-case-after-judges-recent-order\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump finds optimism in classified documents case following judge&#8217;s latest ruling"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-sees-good-news-in-classified-documents-case-after-judges-recent-order%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2210699&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In a recent development, U.S. District Judge\u2062 Aileen Cannon, \u2063overseeing a case involving \u200bclassified documents and Donald Trump, has requested \u2062both \u2064prosecution and defense teams to submit prospective jury instructions. \u200dThis move potentially benefits Trump&#8217;s defense. The judge&#8217;s order involves exploring\u200d legal scenarios \u200band drafting language for\u2064 jurors to evaluate the classification of records. U.S. District\u2062 Judge Aileen Cannon, presiding over \u200ba\u200d case related to classified documents \u2063and Donald Trump, has instructed the prosecution and defense to provide jury instructions. This development\u2064 may favor\u200b Trump&#8217;s defense. \u2064The order entails \u200cexamining legal scenarios and creating instructions for jurors \u200dto assess record classification.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The Florida-based federal judge presiding over the criminal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/classified-documents\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">classified documents<\/a> case against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Donald Trump<\/a> threw special counsel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jack-smith\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jack Smith<\/a> a curveball last month in his prosecution of the former president, potentially giving a boost to Trump\u2019s defense.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a nominee of the former president, requested prosecutors and defense counsel to submit prospective jury instructions that would highlight interpretations of a law favorable to Trump\u2019s defense on or before April 2, <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.flsd.648654\/gov.uscourts.flsd.648654.407.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"according\">according to<\/a> a March 18 order.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>In this image from video provided by the Senate Judiciary Committee, Aileen Cannon testifies virtually during her nomination hearing to the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, on July 29, 2020. (Senate Judiciary Committee via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Trump has been arguing for months in court that he treated the documents he kept at his Mar-a-Lago property as personal under the 1978 Presidential Records Act, which allows former presidents to keep records that have no connection to their official responsibilities. Smith\u2019s office has rejected that argument and has claimed it has no relevance in cases involving illegal possession of top-secret information. <\/p>\n<p>Cannon\u2019s March 18 order told parties to respond with prospective jury instructions in light of Trump\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/2921242\/judge-scrutinizes-trumps-requests-dismiss-classified-documents-case\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"recently-argued\">recently-argued<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?client=safari&#038;rls=en&#038;q=trump+motion+to+dismiss+pra+site%3Awashingtonexaminer.com&#038;ie=UTF-8&#038;oe=UTF-8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"motions to dismiss\">motions to dismiss<\/a> the case, adding the parties must engage with competing legal scenarios and offer \u201calternative draft text that assumes each scenario to be a correct formulation of the law to be issued to the jury, while reserving counterarguments.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Cannon\u2019s order asked the parties to draft language that requires jurors to consider \u201cwhether the government has proven beyond a reasonable doubt\u201d that any records Trump was found to have kept at home were \u201cpersonal or presidential.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition, the judge told parties to respond to a jury instruction premise that states in part: \u201cA 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Kel McClanahan, a national security lawyer who has represented members of the U.S. intelligence community, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/us-judge-receptive-trump-documents-claims-warning-sign-prosecutors-2024-04-01\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"told\">told<\/a> <em>Reuters <\/em>that \u201cboth\u201d competing scenarios favor Trump.<\/p>\n<p>While it\u2019s unclear whether a trial will even begin by late July, Cannon also asked parties in late February to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/2895743\/jack-smith-pushes-court-not-ask-jurors-whom-voted-for-2020\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">iron out disagreements<\/a> over a questionnaire to be given to prospective jurors to use during jury selection. Those disagreements included Smith\u2019s bid to avoid asking jurors about who they may have voted for in the last presidential election.<\/p>\n<p>The deadline for parties to respond to the prospective jury instructions is not an appealable order. Legal experts such as <em>Lawfare <\/em>reporter Roger Parloff <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lawfaremedia.org\/article\/could-the-special-counsel-challenge-judge-cannon-s-jury-instructions-before-they-re-delivered\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"have said\">have said<\/a> once the parties submit their proposed revision language and Cannon renders an order, then Smith could have an opening to appeal.<\/p>\n<p>But a decision by prosecutors to appeal any of Cannon\u2019s orders at this juncture could amount to a lose-lose scenario for Smith, according to former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSmith is in a no-win situation because an appeal or writ will delay the trial even further, but he can\u2019t allow Cannon to abdicate her responsibility and make the possibility of jury nullification even more real,\u201d Rahmani <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/jack-smith-remove-judge-cannon-trump-1881919\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"told\">told<\/a> <em>Newsweek<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>In all, Trump faces 40 felony charges in the classified documents case. The most serious charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n<p>Smith is seeking to convince a jury that Trump was not allowed to retain the classified records in question after leaving the Oval Office in 2021 and that he then sought to obstruct a federal investigation and related efforts to retrieve those documents. <\/p>\n<p>Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee to face off in November against President Joe Biden, has sought to delay the trial until after the election, while Smith has been determined to bring the trial before then.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>If Trump were to win the election before a trial concludes, he could order the Justice Department to drop the federal case against him.<\/p>\n<p>Cannon so far has had orders overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit twice, once in December 2022 that would have meant Trump could challenge an FBI search warrant on Mar-a-Lago, and another order that month that would have allowed a special master to review documents the FBI seized and block the special counsel from accessing his own evidence.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last month, Florida&#8217;s federal judge in the criminal case involving classified documents and Donald Trump surprised special counsel Jack Smith. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, appointed by Trump, instructed both prosecutors and the defense team to submit documents, potentially aiding Trump&#8217;s defense<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2633,"featured_media":2210700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP23164043948202-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2210699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP23164043948202-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2210699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2633"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2210699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2210699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2210700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2210699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2210699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2210699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}