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The federal judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case tore into special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutors late last week, accusing them of “wasting” her time.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon “postponed a hearing on whether one of Trump’s co-defendants understood that his lawyer might have conflicts of interest
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon reprimanded Justice Department attorney David Harbach for “wasting the court’s time” with an unnecessary legal argument.
Harbach argued that Trump’s co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, should not have access to attorneys Stanley Woodward and John Irving, because several of the attorneys’ current and former clients might be called to testify against them.
After Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to President Joe Biden, he brought Nauta with him to work at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach estate. When the government stormed Trump’s Florida estate in the summer of 2022, Oliveira was the property manager there.
Harbach argued that Trump’s co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, should not have access to attorneys Stanley Woodward and John Irving, because several of the attorneys’ current and former clients might be called to testify against them.
After Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to President Joe Biden, he brought Nauta with him to work at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach estate. When the government stormed Trump’s Florida estate in the summer of 2022, Oliveira was the property manager there.
The hearing was supposed to give Nauta and Oliveira time to “digest and contemplate the risks” associated with their attorneys’ possible conflicts of interest, but instead, it degenerated into a heated argument.
Nauta faces six charges, including obstruction of justice conspiracy, and lying to police. Prosecutors say the Trump aide was instrumental in covering up Trump’s possession of classified documents. Oliveira is accused of assisting Trump in hiding boxes of classified documents at the Palm Beach estate from investigators.
The Palm Beach Post wrote, “Attorneys at the defense table traded glances as the judge became shorter and shorter with Harbach. He insisted that his position was ‘unremarkable’ and supported by other court decisions, though Cannon took a dim view of the three he offered her.”
When asked when the lawyers would meet again to discuss the matter, Cannon simply said, “Stay tuned.”
Last week, Cannon filed an electronic order granting the former president’s defense team’s request to delay the trial until after the 2024 election. On May 20th, the trial will begin, Yahoo News reported.
After discovering classified materials at his Mar-a-Lago estate in August 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed 40 felony charges against Trump, including 32 counts of willful retention of national defense information. He has entered a not-guilty plea on all counts.
In her order, Cannon addresses several upcoming October deadlines for Trump and his legal team to review how they plan to handle the classified materials at the heart of the case. Special Counsel Jack Smith asked for a hearing to be scheduled under CIPA to determine which classified materials could be used and released to the public during the trial.
Trump’s lawyers claimed in a motion filed last week that the defense team would not be ready for trial on the current schedule because of delays in obtaining access to classified records cited in Smith’s indictment.
In a court filing made last week, federal prosecutors acknowledged that the case had taken “a slightly longer than anticipated timeframe” and indicated their support for a brief extension. The pre-trial schedule was strongly opposed by Smith’s office.
Smith is not happy with a delay in his classified documents case.
The prosecutor said in a motion that Trump’s request “threatens to upend the entire schedule…and that amounts to a motion to postpone the trial until May 20, 2024.”
