TheĀ MAGA-friendlyĀ federal judge whoĀ keeps sidingĀ withĀ Donald TrumpĀ in his Mar-a-Lago classified records case has forced prosecutors to make a stark choice: allow jurors to see a huge trove of national secrets or let him go.
U.S. District JudgeĀ Aileen M. Cannonāsultimatum Monday night came as a surprise twist in what could have been a simple order; one merely asking federal prosecutors and Trumpās lawyers for proposed jury instructions at the upcoming trial.
But asĀ sheĀ hasĀ done repeatedly, Cannon used this otherwise innocuous legal step as yet another way to swing the case wildly in favor of the man who appointed her while he was president.
Department of Justice Special CounselĀ Jack SmithĀ must now choose whether to allow jurors at the upcoming criminal trial to peruse the many classified records found at the former presidentās South Florida mansion or give jurors instructions that would effectively order them to acquit him.
If it comes up, she can, for example, order the documents be provided to the defense as part of discovery. I would not be shocked to learn she has the power to do something similar with the jury - but this sounds like an undeniable excuse for Smith to ask for her to be overridden by her superiors, like he did earlier in the case.
Thatās exactly why sheās doing it. To make the prosecutors appeal like last time, which takes time. Trump just wants to delay all his cases until after the election so he can drop them all when heās president. This is potentially the most serious case against him, as the government doesnāt mess around with classified info, but since itās a federal case, heāll have the most power to drop it once heās president.