On Tuesday, Florida State Attorney for the 15th Judicial Circuit, Dave Aronberg, asserted that special counsel Jack Smith may resort to drastic measures to disqualify the judge in former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case.
Judge Aileen Cannon is presiding over the case against Trump and ordered the former president and Smith to submit proposed jury instructions on Monday.
According to The Washington Post, this means the judge is focusing on a trial much earlier than anticipated.
Aronberg asserted on MSNBC’s “Jose Diaz-Balart Reports” that the order benefits Trump, and Smith will appeal it and potentially try to disqualify Cannon.
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“My head is spinning because this is sort of an incomprehensible order by Judge Cannon,” Aronberg said. “First off, she’s asking for jury instructions on a case that will not be heard before the November election, and so what is the rush?”
Judges direct juries on how to evaluate evidence shortly ahead of deliberations, which indicates that Cannon is already focusing on the end of the trial, according to the Post. Cannon’s Monday order indicates that she is giving credence to Trump’s argument that he has the power to determine that certain classified documents are personal to him and his property.
“And then she set forth two different hypotheticals for the parties to engage in when it comes to jury instructions, but these jury instructions are really favorable to Donald Trump,” he added. “Essentially, you have two choices, Jack: heads, Donald Trump wins, and tails, you lose. So either way, this is just something that Jack Smith is not going to be able to take. He’s going to have to go to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals … and try and get this whole thing changed unless Judge Cannon will do it herself. And eventually this could lead to Jack Smith pushing the red button to try and get her disqualified for the case. For a lot of people, it’s been a long time coming.”
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The judge denied Trump’s Thursday bid to dismiss the case based on phrases in the charges against him that he claimed were “unconstitutionally vague,” including the terms “unauthorized possession,” “relating to the national defense” and “entitled to receive.
Cannon questioned during the Thursday hearing why Trump was the only president charged for his handling of classified materials, according to multiple reports. Special counsel Robert Hur’s report found evidence that President Joe Biden willfully kept classified documents.
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