Amid the former president’s classified documents case, Glenn Kirschner said Cannon is « moving away from a trial date rather than toward a trial date. »
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has thrown a curveball in former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case, with former federal prosecutor and legal analyst Glenn Kirschner saying on Saturday that the judge put the entire case « in reverse. »
Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, has pleaded not guilty to Department of Justice (DOJ) special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment where it’s alleged that he retained classified materials after he left the White House in January 2021 and then obstructed the federal attempt to retrieve them from his Mar-a-Lago resort residence in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump has maintained his innocence in the case.
On Saturday, Cannon, a Trump appointee who is overseeing the high-profile case, issued a paperless order that paused several crucial deadlines. The move comes in response to Trump’s request for more discussion on presidential immunity following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in a separate case involving the former president.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in a 6-3 majority ruling on Monday that Trump is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his « official acts » carried out in office in a ruling connected to his federal 2020 election interference case.
Cannon’s decision has effectively pressed pause on when Trump’s team needs to share expert information, when they must provide reciprocal discovery, and when Smith’s team has to submit certain classified document procedures. Cannon has given both sides two weeks to argue whether more immunity talk is necessary.
