Judge Aileen Cannon's 'two pages of crazy' sliced up by former federal prosecutor

Donald Trump's documents trial in Florida continues to be delayed, with Judge Aileen Cannon failing to rule on a number of key issues. According to former federal prosecutor and Alabama Law School professor Joyce Vance, Cannon's filing late Monday night makes things even worse.

In just two pages, Judge Cannon suggested jury questions that legal experts have dubbed "insane," as Cannon wants the jury to consider whether Trump can consider top-secret national security documents, including nuclear secrets, to be his personal property.

"In prosecution of a former president for allegedly retaining documents," Cannon's order states. "...a jury is permitted to examine a record retained by a former president in his/her personal possession at the end of his/her presidency and make a factual finding as to whether the government has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that it is personal or presidential using the definitions set forth in the Presidential Records Act (P.R.A.)."

Vance called the whole thing "perplexing."

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"I read it several times, trying to figure out what it means," she wrote. "It turns out it’s two pages of crazy stemming from the Judge’s apparent inability to tell Trump no when it comes to his argument that he turned the nation’s secrets into his personal records by designating them as such under the Presidential Records Act."

The P.R.A. isn't some kind of way around the rules of classified information, and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has already made it clear when it overturned Cannon's earlier order that the items seized during the search couldn't be used in the investigation, Vance recalled.

"So Judge Cannon, who didn’t rule for Trump on the specious Presidential Records Act motion last week, essentially acknowledged she intends to do so today," wrote Vance.

Vance then went to outline two legal scenarios being set up by Cannon, and she said that either option has the jury assuming that the P.R.A. allows Trump to decide that classified national secrets are his personal property, which is patently false under the law.

Responding specifically to the written instructions, Vance said it's simply not how juries work and she said it was almost as though Cannon were passing the buck to the jury to properly interpret the law.

Essentially, the government is in a no-win situation, and she expects the response from the Justice Department to be strong.

Read her full post here.

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