Last night, Special Counsel Jack Smith not only docked his responses to myriad of motions to dismiss the Florida documents case, but he also recognized the entry of attorneys James Pearce and Cecil VanDevender. These legal professionals previously notably argued against Trump’s presidential immunity claims at the DC Circuit, likely indicative of an impending trip to the Eleventh Circuit regarding Trump’s supposed immunity claims. Read More…
In a turning of the tide, Trump’s lawyers ran the immunity play yet again in Florida, interestingly, on a case where none of the charged misconduct took place during Trump’s presidency. The team propounds a theory of magical transformation of classified documents into personal records, enabling Trump to defy an assigned subpoena and ostensibly erase evidence. Read More…
Adding to an already convoluted backdrop, Trump lawyers argued for dismissal, under the Presidential Records Act (PRA) and a very imaginative conception of presidential immunity, without explicitly representing to Judge Aileen Cannon that such a transformation had indeed taken place. Instead, they asked the court to infer it from Trump’s actions.
The prosecutors have not taken this lightly, arguing that even if Trump had indeed classified the materials as personal and declassified them, it would ultimately be irrelevant to the obstruction charges or the charge of retaining national defense information under U.S law. Read More…
A critical argument being put forth is that Trump’s immunity claim is a frivolous one, aimed purely at delaying the trial by accomplishing an interlocutory appeal that is disconnected from the actual charges. There is concern that Judge Cannon might accept Trump’s immunity claim and even grant the motion to dismiss, leading the Special Counsel to reiterate arguments against immunity that were previously presented to the DC Circuit.
Their point remains clear: Trump’s immunity claim has been timed solely for the purpose of delay and must be rejected to avoid stalling trial proceedings. While this may seem promising, their appeal lies in the hands of Judge Cannon, leaving the final outcome rather unpredictable. Read More…