Jack Smith’s ‘Shocking Display of Disregard for the Constitution’

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by Julie Kelly

Public outrage following the disclosure of shocking details related to the FBI’s unprecedented raid of Mar-a-Lago isn’t going away despite the best efforts by some to portray the search as “standard operating procedure.”

The scandal continues to put the Department of Justice on its heels. After court documents demonstrated the potentially dangerous situation created by the presence of two armed federal law enforcement agencies at the former president’s sprawling Palm Beach estate that day, both Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray made public statements in an attempt to downplay the FBI’s inclusion of lethal force language in the FBI’s raid plan.

But Republicans are not placated by the DOJ’s assurances of following “standard operating procedure” or unsubstantiated claims that the deadly force policy also was in play during consensual searches of Joe Biden’s home in 2023. And it appears U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon has her own set of concerns as to how the FBI conducted the search on August 8, 2022.

Next week, Cannon will hold a hearing in her Florida courtroom on Donald Trump’s motion to prevent Special Counsel Jack Smith from using evidence seized during the nine-hour raid at trial. Cannon is presiding over Smith’s espionage and obstruction indictment against Trump and his two codefendants.

Smith is on Cannon’s bad side for a number of reasons, not the least of which is his office’s recent confession that evidence is not in the same sequence as they were following the raid—something Smith’s lead prosecutor misrepresented in court—and that an unknown number of classified documents apparently are unaccounted for. (I explained here.)

Trump’s lawyers further accuse FBI agents of exceeding the scope of the warrant by ransacking the bedroom of Mrs. Trump and their son, Barron.

Smith’s Latest Attempt to Silence Trump

Cannon also will hear Smith’s argument to impose a partial gag order prohibiting Trump from making public statements critical of law enforcement involved in the case. After getting a scolding from Cannon for violating her rules related to conferring with the defense before filing any substantive motion—she called Smith’s half-assed attempt to reach Trump’s lawyers the Friday evening before Memorial Day weekend, “disappointing”—Smith filed a renewed motion to modify the conditions of Trump’s release, a better way of saying “gag order,” on May 31.

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Smith needs to be totally fired from his job no payments and sent to Prison if all possible anyone w ho violas out U.S. Constitution dont deserve to hold a job like that

smith was appointed unconstitutionally and that is not in dispute. smith and the DOJ have been irresponsible as stewards of evidence that is now tainted and cannot be used as evidence because of their malfeasance. Judge Cannon could easily dismiss the case in toto.

The lesbian crotch licker host at msnbc is so worried about her culpability and the potential criminal ramifications from her involvement in an election interference conspiracy.

06/20/24 – Judge in Trump classified documents case rejected chief judge’s suggestion to step aside –

The judge in Donald Trump‘s classified documents case rejected suggestions from two other judges to step aside when the case was first assigned to her, according to a New York Times report.

The suggestions to Judge Aileen Cannon came in two phone calls from her judicial colleagues, including one from Southern District of Florida Chief Judge Cecilia Altonaga, according to the report, which cited two sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Cannon, who was nominated by Trump for her current role, has come under fire from Trump critics after indefinitely delaying a trial in the case, effectively guaranteeing Trump won’t face a verdict in the case before the 2024 presidential election. If Trump becomes president, he could order the Justice Department to drop the federal case.

Trump is criminally charged in the case with mishandling classified documents. Cannon and the Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Trump lawyer Todd Blanche declined to comment.

Cannon rulings under fire

Trump critics have also lambasted a ruling Cannon made during the criminal investigation that was helpful to Trump, but ultimately reversed by a panel of three appellate judges who were all nominated by Republican presidents. Cannon temporarily blocked investigators from examining seized documents while a special master reviewed Trump’s claims that the documents were privileged.

Cannon acknowledged she was giving Trump special consideration compared to other defendants, writing in a September, 2022 order that “the investigation and treatment of a former president is of unique interest to the general public.” The appeals court judges characterized that ruling as “a radical reordering of our caselaw limiting the federal courts’ involvement in criminal investigations” and a violation of “bedrock separation-of-powers limitations.”

Cannon also asked prosecutors and Trump’s defense team to weigh in on potential instructions she would give to a future jury that legal experts said would amount to dismissing the case against Trump.

The instructions would state that a president has sole authority to declare that records are personal rather than presidential, and that courts and juries can’t review that categorization. Trump has argued that courts can’t review his decisions on what records are personal ones he can keep, as opposed to presidential ones he needed to give to the National Archives.

Calls from fellow judges

One of the judges who reached out to Cannon – a judge who wasn’t named – suggested that someone presiding over a courtroom closer to the Miami courthouse where a grand jury indicted Trump would be better for the case, according to the New York Times report.

After that call failed to persuade Cannon to step aside, Altonaga – a George W. Bush appointee – reached out to Cannon, according to the report. Altonaga said it would look bad for Cannon to oversee the trial because of the controversy surrounding her later-overturned decision to have a special master review what documents investigators could look at in the process that ultimately led to the charges.

Cannon is a Trump tool, plain and simple, enabling his endless delaying tactics. Her bias is blatant.

Last edited 9 days ago by Greg

And merchan was not biased, n’est-ce pas?