Trump and prosecutors in the classified documents case have been told to draft jury instructions that could result in ensuring acquittal

The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s prosecution on charges of retaining classified documents appears to be entertaining his most brazen defenses that could ultimately result in ensuring the acquittal of the former president.

The issue revolves around an order from the US district judge Aileen Cannon on Monday asking Trump and prosecutors in the office of the special counsel Jack Smith to draft jury instructions for two scenarios that gave extraordinary credit to Trump’s defense theories.

The two jury instruction scenarios, as conceived by Cannon, were so beneficial to Trump and so potentially incorrect on the law of the Espionage Act that it would bring into serious doubt whether it made sense for prosecutors to take the case to trial.

  • dhork@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    At what point do we need to check her driveway to see if she just took delivery of a new RV?

  • grue@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    How much more blatantly obvious does the fact that Cannon is compromised and working to help Trump have to be before she’s finally removed for it‽

    • Optional@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Well, consider this: the predisent of the united hamberders was provably and clearly assisted, with full acknowledgement, to illegally attain the office of the predisent by the king of russia.

      he then decided all manner of national security decisions in russias favor, and promises to do so again. The years long federal investigation found that he should be charged. His cronies saw to it that he was not. (they also iced his pedophile handler for free.)

      And nothing - nothing - happened because of that. In part because he used his illegitimate office to pardon those who helped perpetrate the crime.

      So. How long before the DoJ moves to remove a federal judge who’s only crimes thus far are being obviously corrupt? A long time at this rate. Never, actually, at this rate.

      Open to ideas.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    4 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s prosecution on charges of retaining classified documents appears to be entertaining his most brazen defenses that could ultimately result in ensuring the acquittal of the former president.

    The two jury instruction scenarios, as conceived by Cannon, were so beneficial to Trump and so potentially incorrect on the law of the Espionage Act that it would bring into serious doubt whether it made sense for prosecutors to take the case to trial.

    The authorization issue is key to the case because Trump was indicted for unlawfully retaining national security materials under the Espionage Act.

    Prosecutors could find a way to work with the first scenario, in large part because showing that the classified documents seized at Mar-a-Lago were not personal records would not be difficult.

    Ironically, the curious order from Cannon asking both parties to draft jury instructions appears to have come about because she felt inclined to deny Trump’s motions to dismiss the indictment under the Presidential Records Act and wanted the case to proceed to trial.

    It was precisely around that discussion that Cannon asked Trump’s lawyers what the instructions would be for the jury to decide what “unauthorized possession” entailed, taking into consideration the Presidential Records Act.


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