Legal AF by MeidasTouch - FED UP Jack Smith Finally MAKES HIS MOVE Against Judge Cannon

Episode Date: February 9, 2024

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s filing of a motion for reconsideration in the Trump criminal Mar-A-Lago document case after Judge Cannon’s latest dangerous and unlawful orders. Get up to 40% off for a limited time when you go to https://shopbeam.com/LEGALAF and use code LEGALAF at checkout! Visit https://meidastouch.com for more! Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown Lights On with Jessica Denson: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/lights-on-with-jessica-denson On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Call 1866 531 2600 or visit connexontario.ca. Finally, Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed what is essentially a precursor to an appeal of Judge Eileen Cannon's prior ruling. It is a motion for reconsideration and stay that special counsel, Jack Smith filed. But ultimately, if Judge Ileane Cannon does not reverse her prior order, where she ordered the identities of witnesses and FBI code names and other confidential information

to be disclosed on the public docket, special counsel Jack Smith will surely go to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to get Judge Eileen Cannon overturned, given the egregious nature of her misapplication of the law to try to support her effort to disclose the identity of confidential witnesses and other confidential discovery material. This could also potentially result in special counsel Jack Smith requesting that the 11th Circuit ultimately remove Judge Eileen Cannon from this case, but for now, what special counsel Jack Smith filed following the appropriate steps is a motion for reconsideration and stay of her prior ruling.

And watching the Midas Touch Network, you know, Judge Eileen Cannon previously granted Donald Trump's request to remove redactions from some of his filings. Trump filed a motion to compel discovery against special counsel Jack Smith and special counsel Jack Smith's team and attached to Donald Trump's motions to compel, he included exhibits. The exhibits had the names of the confidential informants, the government witnesses, and other

confidential information which was turned over during discovery. Trump had to file that in a redacted form under the protective order. But then Donald Trump argued because he took the confidential discovery, filed it at first in a redacted form on the public court docket, Trump said, now I want you, Judge Cannon, to release the identifying information contained in this motion to compel contained in the exhibits, release the information to the public.

In other words, put a target, put a bullseye on the witnesses who have already been threatened, make the witnesses be fearful. In other words, it's a form of witness intimidation and a way to undermine the Department of Justice and the FBI, not just in this case, but in other investigations where FBI code names are used, which may be cross-referenced in other cases, and if those documents become public, could place the lives of FBI agents and other assets in danger. Of course, the witnesses that are cooperating with the government, their lives would be

placed in danger. There's a whole body of case law called Jank's material whereby the government doesn't even have to disclose states' witnesses or the government's witnesses in this case to a criminal defendant or provide the actual reports that is regarding what government witnesses told the Department of Justice until such time as that witness testifies that trial here, Special Counsel Jack Smith, because there was a protective order, and in the interest of expediting this matter,

turned over that jank's material, the interviews with government witnesses earlier than was actually required. And now Donald Trump is saying, I want to release this to the public when in fact that material should not be released until the time of trial and even then once the witness is called, if the witness is called. And in this motion for reconsideration, Special Counsel Jack Smith calls out Judge Eileen Cannon for applying the wrong legal standard. What Judge Eileen Cannon said is,

because these documents were filed by Trump on a public docket, because they are public filings, you have to apply this public interest type test called a compelling interest test. So Judge Cannon said, does the government show some compelling interest? Why it is that these documents should remain sealed and did the government meet that test?

And Judge Cannon says, the government didn't meet that test. That test is applied to things that are kind of public filings. Things are on the public docket, but that compelling interest test does not apply to the discovery material and you could probably understand why because when the discovery subject to a protective order, not everything that's turned over in discovery ends up making its way into the public trial. And there's also a lot of other considerations when you're dealing with discovery material as opposed to kind of public filing. So what Donald Trump tried to do, and he knew that I think Judge Eileen Cannon would do whatever he wanted to do, Donald Trump took the discovery and to seal discovery to keep those identities

confidential in discovery. The standard in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which supervises the Southern District of Florida and other Florida District Courts, as well as other Georgia District Courts, as well as it's a good cause standard. Did the government, in this case, did special counsel, Jack Smith, have good cause, not a compelling need, but at least good cause, to seal or to keep confidential the identities of the government's witnesses, the government witness reports, FBI code names. So what Trump did is said, aha, let's get Canon to apply the compelling interest test. Let's take these documents that were given to us in discovery almost kind of randomly attach them to a frivolous

motion to compel whether we win the motion to compel or not is not even the point of the bad faith strategy by Trump. They want to disclose the identity of the informants, the government witnesses, the government reports. They want to make those public to scare, intimidate, and threaten witnesses. So let's take those reports and identities. Let's file it on the public docket as attachments. And then let's say this needs to be unsealed and made public because Judge Cannon, the government didn't satisfy a compelling interest going from a good cause standard in discovery to compelling interest on the public docket.

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Special Counsel Jack Smith in my view, and I think in mostly every legal advisor's view, satisfies both a compelling interest test. There's a compelling interest and need why you should keep classified information or confidential information rather and informants and all that information of witnesses, why you should keep that confidential, right? There seems to be a compelling need, but I think you satisfy both the compelling need and a kind of good cause standard. But here, Special Counsel Jack Smith is saying, Judge Cannon, you applied a compelling interest, and we didn't have a compelling interest.

We think you're wrong about that, but you applied the wrong standard. It's a good cause standard, not a compelling interest. And so Judge Cannon, you better overturn your own ruling because if you don't overturn yourself, well, then we're going to have to contemplate what we do next. And what that basically means is reading between the lines here, Special Counsel Jack Smith is preparing an appeal before the 11th Circuit. If and when Judge Eileen Cannon makes the wrong move and her move here was so egregious that after what she did back in 2022 in the other search warrant related case where she was overturned twice in that case for asserting

the wrong, asserting equitable jurisdiction over the case. That was before the criminal case was filed. Then you add to this releasing the information of like informants and government witnesses. Think she'd likely or potentially in that case or could be removed from this case if she gets reversed again. Here's just the motion.

Let me just show you how it's written. So you can see, I wanted to give you that summary, get through all the legal jargon, but I want you to see how the government writes this in their motion. It says, government's motion for reconsideration and stay. In two recent orders, the court has denied the government's request to seal or redact

certain material that was provided to the defendants in discovery pursuant to a protective order and then attached either to the defendant's motion to compel discovery or the government's response there too. The discovery material, if publicly docketed in unredacted form as the court has ordered, would disclose the identities of numerous potential witnesses, along with the substance of the statements they made to the FBI or the grand jury, exposing them to significant and immediate risks of threat, intimidation, and harassment, as has already happened to witnesses, law enforcement agents, judicial officers, and Department of Justice employees whose identities have

been disclosed in cases in which defendant Trump is involved. To reach this conclusion, the court reasoned first that because the defendant chose to attach the discovery materials to court filings, the government bore the burden to demonstrate the sealing or redaction is necessitated by a compelling governmental interest and is narrowly tailored to serve that interest. The court then found that the government's justification, including protecting witness safety, grand jury secrecy, and the integrity of the trial, failed to satisfy this heavy burden. Special Counsel Jack Smith is teeing it up., he doesn't say this, but he goes, you're wrong there, we should be able to appeal you there

and win, but we're gonna show you that you were wrong on the law as well here. Then special counsel Jack Smith says, this conclusion was wrong in two respects and should be reconsidered. First, the 11th circuit has held that the compelling interest standard applied by the court does not apply

to documents filed in connection with motions to compel discovery, which instead may be sealed or redacted simply upon a showing of good cause. The government has readily satisfied that standard here, the good cause standard that I was talking about. Because the court applied the wrong legal standard, which as explained below, the government did not discuss in its prior filing, reconsideration is warranted to correct clear error. In other words, you were clearly erroneous, Judge Cannon, in your ruling. Second, in addition to ensuring the correct legal standard is applied, reconsideration is warranted to prevent manifest injustice. The court order requires public identification of more than two dozen people who participated

in the investigation. Some may never testify at trial and therefore would otherwise be able to retain their anonymity and privacy absent the court's orders. Others are expected to provide important trial testimony and will likely be subject to threats, intimidation, and harassment if their identities are revealed. A likelihood that is concrete and palpable in this case as the record reveals and other judges have recognized. Federal judges, circuit court judges across the country have recognized Trump's threats

have real consequences. The First Amendment does not require disclosure of these witnesses, identities particularly where as here, their identities have no bearing on the resolution of the motion to compel. The government therefore respectfully requests the court reconsider its recent orders." And it goes into more detail than that, but that's basically how it's framed. That's why I wanted to give you this summary so you understood all the terminology, then show you how special counsel Jack Smith wrote it. Jack Smith is teeing this up clearly for an appeal. This goes now before Judge Cannon. She has to then reconsider her own ruling. Then she

will issue a ruling. If she basically agrees with herself from before, then Jack Smith brings that up to the 11th Circuit. Now if Judge Cannon reverses herself, overturns herself, then there wouldn't be an appeal. But he kind of puts Judge Eileen Cannon right here in a position where she has to make a ruling that's ultimately going to impact whether or not an appeal is sought or not. So all of these kind of procedural orders that she's making, these paperless orders, Jack Smith's calling her out right now, which is good. I'm Ben Mycelis, this is the Midas Touch Network. Hit subscribe, we're on our way to three million subscribers

and check us out at patreon.com slash Midas Touch if you like this reporting. Hey Midas Mighty, love this report? Continue the conversation by following us on Instagram at Midas Touch to keep up with the most important news of the day. What are you waiting for? Follow us now.