In a scathing filing, the special counsel pushed back on Judge Aileen Cannonā€™s interpretations of laws that could define the case against Trump

Special CounselĀ Jack SmithĀ went toe-to-toe with U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon over her requests for jury instructions inĀ Donald Trumpā€™sĀ classified documents case.

In aĀ scathing filingĀ submitted Tuesday, Smith accused Cannon of operating on an ā€œunstated and fundamentally flawed legal premiseā€ when she requested that the parties in the case draft different versions of their proposed jury instructions based on their competing interpretations of laws governing classified materials and presidential records.

Trump has argued that his retention of classified documents after his ouster from the White House was perfectly legal. Claiming that he both unilaterallyĀ telepathically declassifiedĀ the documents, and that they were simply personal records he was already authorized to take. The former presidentā€™s trial on 40 charges related to his alleged mishandling of the documents is scheduled to begin in May, but willĀ likely be delayed.

    • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      15
      Ā·
      9 months ago

      I donā€™t want to gamble on how dumb Americans are. I somehow constantly underestimate it.

      • stoly@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        Ā·
        9 months ago

        Iā€™ve been chanting that mantra since Wā€™s second election. His performance in his first term and in the debates were so abysmal that I thought it was over. Nope, turned out that people would rather have a beer with W than with John Kerry and that somehow was the important thing.

        For anyone who is unaware, this really did happen.

    • chakan2@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      1
      Ā·
      9 months ago

      The polls say otherwise, and Iā€™m not convinced the Dā€™s arenā€™t just throwing it at this point. Not having to do shit and saying ā€œTrump Badā€ is lucrative.