Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon handed prosecutors in his Mar-a-Lago case a shocking ultimatum on Monday.

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. Cannonā€™sultimatum Monday night came as a surprise twist in what could have been a simple order; one merely asking federal prosecutors and Trumpā€™s 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 presidentā€™s South Florida mansion or give jurors instructions that would effectively order them to acquit him.

    • Ranvier@sopuli.xyz
      49Ā·
      8 months ago

      It would delay things further unfortunately, but this is so egregiously wrong and in such a long list of mistakes and/or illegitimate moves meant to provide cover for Trump, I donā€™t think thereā€™s any recourse but for Jack Smith to move to have her taken off the case. Even more when you consider her involvement prior to these charges when she got improperly involved with the search warrant bussiness before a higher court told her off and dismissed the whole thing. Shame sheā€™s the one assigned to the strongest and least legally controversial criminal case against him.

      • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        301Ā·
        8 months ago

        Yeah this does feel like a bit of a rubicon moment for her. ā€œShow this SCI/TS/NOFORN stuff (that Trump stole) to random yahoos from the public Florida who are not vetted or security cleared.ā€ Thatā€™s incredibly fucking stupid.