{"id":2212194,"date":"2024-04-03T12:19:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T16:19:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-prosecutor-signals-appeal-in-classified-documents-case-rebukes-judge\/"},"modified":"2024-04-03T12:19:25","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T16:19:25","slug":"trump-prosecutor-signals-appeal-in-classified-documents-case-rebukes-judge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-prosecutor-signals-appeal-in-classified-documents-case-rebukes-judge\/","title":{"rendered":"Prosecutor in Trump case plans to appeal regarding classified documents, criticizes judge"},"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\">24<\/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-prosecutor-signals-appeal-in-classified-documents-case-rebukes-judge%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=2212194&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\u2063 recent filing,\u200c Special \u200dCounsel Jack Smith criticized the judge overseeing the classified documents case involving ex-President Donald \u2064Trump. The judge&#8217;s proposed jury \u2063instructions were called into \u200bquestion, prompting considerations for an appeal. The case revolves around Trump&#8217;s alleged illegal\u2062 retention of classified\u200b documents post-presidency. Smith indicated a likelihood of appealing the judge&#8217;s\u200d order due to what he considers\u200d flawed legal premises.  <\/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>Special counsel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jack-smith\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Jack Smith<\/a> tore into the judge presiding over former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Donald Trump<\/a>\u2018s classified documents case, claiming her proposed jury instructions contain a \u201cflawed legal premise\u201d worthy of appeal, according to a late filing Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. District Judge <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2447539\/donald-trump-indictment-judge-in-classified-documents-case-open-to-trial-date-adjustments\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Aileen Cannon\">Aileen Cannon<\/a> ordered defense lawyers for Trump and prosecutors to file submissions outlining hypothetical jury instructions based on competing interpretations of two laws relevant to the case. Her March 18 order suggested Trump may have had a legal right under the Presidential Records Act to declare records as personal after leaving office, a premise Smith said was wrong.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Special counsel Jack Smith arrives to speak to reporters on Friday, June 9, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Jose Luis Magana)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Cannon, a Trump appointee, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/2947004\/trump-sees-good-news-classified-documents-case-judges-recent-order\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"asked both parties to write two versions\">asked both parties to write two versions<\/a> of proposed jury instructions that frame the matters jurors must review before considering a person\u2019s guilt or innocence.<\/p>\n<p>The first scenario asked them 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 The second told parties to respond to a premise that juries and courts lack the expertise to review or determine whether a president has \u201csole authority\u201d under the PRA to categorize records as personal.<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s attorneys leaned into their argument that the former president had control over the designation of documents that he is accused of illegally retaining.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou heard evidence during the trial that President Trump exercised that authority, at times verbally and at times without using formal procedures, while he was President,\u201d Trump\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652\/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652.427.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"legal team wrote\">legal team wrote<\/a> in its proposed jury instructions. \u201cI instruct you that those declassification decisions are examples of valid and legally appropriate uses of President Trump\u2019s declassification authority while he was President of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump is charged with 32 counts of violating the Espionage Act, with each count corresponding to a classified document he is alleged to have retained illegally after leaving the Oval Office. He also faces eight counts related to alleged obstruction of officials\u2019 efforts to retrieve the materials and has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Smith gave his strongest indication yet this week of a forthcoming appeal of Cannon\u2019s order, arguing that \u201cthe Government must be provided with an opportunity to seek prompt appellate review.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBoth scenarios rest on an unstated and fundamentally flawed legal premise \u2014 namely, that the Presidential Records Act and in particular its distinction between \u2018personal\u2019 and \u2018Presidential\u2019 records, determines whether a former President is \u2018authorized,\u2019 under the Espionage Act, to possess highly classified documents and store them in an unsecure facility,\u201d the <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652\/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652.428.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"special counsel\u2019s team wrote\">special counsel\u2019s team wrote<\/a>, arguing a jury that is presented with such instructions \u201cwould distort the trial.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smith has repeatedly emphasized his belief that the PRA is not relevant to the charges against Trump, labeling as \u201cpure fiction\u201d Trump\u2019s claims to have deemed the records seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate personal documents.<\/p>\n<p>The special counsel\u2019s office furthered its point by citing interviews with \u201cnumerous high-ranking officials from the White House,\u201d adding that \u201cnot a single one had heard Trump say he was designating records as personal or that, at the time he caused the transfer of boxes to Mar-a-Lago, he believed that his removal of records amounted to designating them as personal under the PRA.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo the contrary, every witness who was asked this question had never heard such a thing,\u201d Smith said, adding that Trump\u2019s PRA argument was \u201cconcocted more than a year after he left the White House.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elie Honig, a legal analyst for CNN, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rawstory.com\/cannon-pra\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"described\">described<\/a> Smith\u2019s rhetoric as a \u201cprosecutorial temper tantrum.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI mean, usually prosecutors are very just-the-facts, very deferential to a judge,\u201d Honig said. \u201cAnd here we see Jack Smith really expressing his\u00a0frustration at the judge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, a prominent defense attorney who has represented Jan. 6 Capitol riot defendants, Bill Shipley, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/shipwreckedcrew\/status\/1775440313240506795\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"questioned\">questioned<\/a> Smith\u2019s tone and approach to Cannon\u2019s March 18 order, asking, \u201cSo now the prosecutor get to decide what the \u2018facts\u2019 are Pretrial??\u201d<\/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>Cannon\u2019s request followed a hearing she held over whether the PRA granted Trump broad authority to characterize documents as personal and over Trump\u2019s argument about the \u201cconstitutional vagueness\u201d of Smith\u2019s use of the Espionage Act. The judge denied his motion to dismiss on vagueness but has not yet ruled on Trump\u2019s motion to dismiss citing the PRA.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the prospects of this trial even getting underway by July have significantly diminished in recent days, as Cannon has not yet issued a schedule weeks after prosecutors and the defense presented her with potential options. Cannon previously told prosecutors she considered a late-July trial start unrealistic.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Special counsel Jack Smith criticized the judge overseeing the ex-President Trump&#8217;s classified documents case, stating her proposed jury instructions have a &#8220;flawed legal premise,&#8221; prompting consideration of an appeal. Judge Aileen Cannon directed Trump&#8217;s defense attorneys and prosecutors to submit potential jury instructions as ordered<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2633,"featured_media":2212195,"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\/02\/AP24004615992643-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2212194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/AP24004615992643-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2212194","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=2212194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2212194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2212195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2212194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2212194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2212194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}