Legal AF by MeidasTouch - Judge Cannon Makes FATAL MISTAKE, Jack Smith WILL MAKE HER PAY

Episode Date: November 1, 2023

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on a new order by Judge Aileen Cannon where she completely butchers the meaning of the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA) and how this is something Special Counsel Jack Smith could appeal. Meiselas compares the order by Judge Cannon with Judge Tanya Chutkan’s order issued at the same time. Thanks to Miracle Made: Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to TryMiracle.com/LEGALAF and use the code LEGALAF to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF. 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

Judge Eileen Cannon, the federal judge in the Southern District of Florida, who Donald Trump appointed and who is presiding over the Mara Lago document case, just made a major mistake in an order that she just issued and I believe special counsel Jack Smith is going to make her pay. might as touch network two orders were issued at basically the same exact time in the two federal criminal prosecutions of Donald Trump. One in the Southern District of Florida, a order was issued regarding SEPA, classified information procedure act section four by Judge Eileen Cannon, the judge appointed by Donald Trump, who back in 2022 was overturned twice by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. And I believe her order is erroneous that her order, I think, can. And I think may indeed be appealed by special counsel, Jack Smith, given that he would be entitled

to an interlocutory appeal. And now she's finally made an appealable order. So we've got judge canons order in the Southern district of Florida. Then we've got judge tanya chutkins order in the Washington DC federal court involving special counsel jack smith's criminal prosecution of Donald Trump for his attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 election. The Washington, DC federal case is set for trial in March of 2024. And as of now, judge Eileen Cannon's case involving Donald Trump's theft of national defense information and obstruction of justice

is scheduled for May of 2024. Both judges made orders at exactly the same time or within minutes of each other. And I think it was by and large a coincidence that these orders dropped that close in time to each other, although nothing's ever a coincidence. But they both involve CEPA section four issues, classified information procedure act issues, and CEPA classified information procedures act is the procedures for the handling of classified information in cases where classified information is that issue. So for example, in the Southern District of Florida case,

it involves Donald Trump stealing national defense information, which includes classified information, highly sensitive information, sensitive compartmental information, and even in the Washington DC case, which does not like overtly a deal with classified information, there are still certain issues that may involve national security assessments regarding the January 6th insurrection, foreign government intervention, and attempts to try to aid and assist Donald Trump's overthrowing of the 2020 election and to try to get voters to vote for Trump or to vote a certain way.

So there may be national security assessments about interference as well that may involve classified information. And one of the things that seep a section for addresses is a form of blackmail called graymail, for example, where a criminal defendant tries to say, well, I'm entitled under the sixth amendment and my other constitutional rights to a public trial. So I'm bringing all this classified information before the public, even if it jeopardizes the national security interests of the United States of America, or you could just dismiss the charges against me. And the national security information won't be disclosed to the public. That's called

graymailing. It's like a form of blackmailing. And so this statute called SEPA, which is well established, is utilized all the time. This is not controversial. But when it comes to Judge Eileen Cannon, everything is to her novel new controversial. And she tries to contort the meaning of very basic statutes. But SEPA addresses issues like graymail and blackmail, SEPA addresses these issues and basically says, okay, how are classified documents handled? Where can classified documents be viewed? They have to be viewed in skiffs, sensitive compartmental information facilities.

Can the criminal defendant have access to these documents? What are the conditions for their access to this classified information? How are the documents handled? How do they get transferred from a skiff to the courtroom? You have to hire people who are security officers whose sole job almost like an independent monitor is to deal with classified information in cases that involve SEPA.

So there's a well-established SEPA classified information procedures act regime that deals with these issues and one specific provision of SEPA, SEPA section four, which basically says, while yes, it is true that in criminal cases, a defendant is entitled to all of this documentation that may be exculpatory and all of this document that may be exculpatory and all of this document that may be reasonably calculated to be exculpatory and titled to all this discovery.

When it comes to classified information, we have to balance the national security concerns with the criminal defendants due process concerns and how do we balance that out? Are there situations where the government can delete certain documents from discovery that are highly classified documents and perhaps replace them with summaries or descriptions or some other methodology that does not harm our national security interests? Can the government withhold certain classified documents that

may not be squarely relevant and exculpatory in the case? And who's the one who makes that decision? Because if you show the classified documents to the defendant or the defense lawyer, you can't unring the bell because they've already seen the document. So what CEPA section 4 has, it's very clearly written in CEPA section 4 is a procedure whereby X part A and in camera, the federal judge is to review certain documents which the federal government's state pursuant to CEPA section 4 should be deleted and withheld from the discovery that they turn over to the criminal defendant in a specific case. And so X part day in camera by its very terms means that

the judge with the government without the criminal defendant present makes that determination. And it's up to the judge on their own to make that call, not in an adversarial process, which normally takes place. But because we're dealing with highly classified documents, it's done what's called in-camera, I-N-camera, it's italicized and what that just basically means is without the criminal defendant or without a defendant present, an X part a meaning that the government moves, pursuant to CEPA section four to achieve, you know, to get the court to make a determination.

Ultimately, if the court goes, you know what, this isn't under CEPA section four, then the criminal defendant can get access to it through the normal CEPA procedures which are governed by a protective order under the classified information procedures Act Section 3 of SEAPA which sets forth the protective order. So if you want to just think about this, there's a protective order which is SEAPA Section 3 which as I said earlier in the video, governs the terms of how classified documents

will be handled in a case. And then even like above that, think about it like this, there's another layer, which is CEPA section four, which is where the government says, these documents are so sensitive that the CEPA section four protects even more than the protective order. And it's a procedure where we don't turn it over these records pursuant to the protective order.

Instead, we go to the judge directly through this in-camera, meaning just the judge alone, X part A proceeding and the judge makes the call. So in both of the cases, the Southern District of Florida case before Judge Eileen Cannon and the Washington, D.C. federal case, the government invoked its CEPA section for procedure rights under CEPA, well established statute, well established precedent. And here's where judge Cannon and here's where judge Chutkin reached very different rulings. You know that your temperature at night can have one of the greatest impacts on your sleep quality?

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CPCection 4 has these exceptions and there shouldn't be the case where the judge just gets to see it. They should have access to it as well. And here's where judge canon and judge chutkin reached very different orders. And I think in judge uh, chutkin's order, it really describes the issues here very plainly. Judge Chutkin says, at the outset, it bears emphasis that the defense identifies Trump, identifies no case in which any court has ordered the relief that they seek here. And this court is aware of none.

There is good reason for the lack of precedent. As CEPA's House report explains, quote, since the government is seeking to withhold classified information from the defendant, an adversary hearing with the defense knowledge would defeat the very purpose of the discovery rules. It's about withholding classified information because a federal judge deems it so sensitive that the defense lawyers shouldn't be able to know about it at all, which is what makes this different than normal procedure. And who enacted this Congress? This is a law. This is a statute to see to protect our national security. So

that's what judge Chutkin says there. And Judge Chutkin says, rather than this court, rather than Judge Chutkin undertake the unprecedented and likely futile course that Trump is requesting, this court has followed the established procedure of holding an ex-part A hearing with Defense Council to better understand whether the withheld information is relevant and helpful. That process, not adversarial litigation, is the appropriate course for resolving the

SEPA section for motion here. So judge Chutkins basically saying, SEPA section for is very clear that the procedure is that the lawyers don't get access to this information, that instead the government files with the court exparte in camera, and then the court can separately then hold a hearing with the defense lawyers and ask questions without showing the defense counsel, the records, and the defense counsel shouldn't see any portion of the records, that the law is very clear on that. Now, Judge Cannon does the exact opposite, basically. And Judge Cannon gives her own analysis

of Cepa Section 3 and Cepa Section 4, and what Judge Cannon says in her ruling is that because seep a section three mentions both defendant and defendant's attorney, which he says in the ruling, and that those words are specifically in seep a section three when it relates to a protective order, because seep a section four just uses the word defendant and doesn't say defendants lawyer, she extrapolates that Cephasection IV then must mean that trumps lawyers and the other defendants lawyers can get access to classified information subject to the Cepa section three protective order rights. That in other words, what Judge Cannon is saying is that Cepa section four doesn't provide

an extra layer of protection, which is what it does because we're dealing with highly sensitive classified information. as if I had information, what Canon claims is that Cepa section four is basically buried within Cepa sections, three's protective order, which would make no sense. Why would you, if that was the case, judge, Canon, you would just have Cepa section three. Why would Congress create its own section four? And then why would the procedures for Cepah section four be X part A in camera, which means no lawyer present for the defense. That's by its terms, the process of seepah section for excludes the defense lawyers. Because as you saw judge Chutkin say in Washington DC,

there's good reason for that. It's because the government wants to withhold classified documents by making these national security arguments and Judge Cannon disagrees with them. It's nothing to disagree with. Like, that's what the statute says. And one of the things I think to point out is number one, Judge Chutkin's order is about five pages. Judge Cannon's is 15. And Judge Cannon, this self-importance that reeks from this when she doesn't know what she's talking about,

she acts like she's a Supreme Court justice in this, parsing through, rather than looking at what the precedent is, her own interpretation about Cepa section four is relation with Cepa section three, Judge Cannon, you've never done a Cepa case before. I mean, this is so insane that a judge who's never done a Cepa case is giving you her statutory interpretation of what Cepa section three's interrelationship is with Cepa section four.

That is so wrong instead of just saying, here's the process I'm gonna follow, it's called CPIS, section 4. And so on that analysis, what Judge Cannon says is, the government needs to just simply go along with the protective order CPIS, section 3 provisions, and on a case-by-case basis, rather than invoking the CPpasexion for procedures,

if you want to withhold from the lawyers of Donald Trump and his co-defendants, bring a separate motion to me. Otherwise, you have to go through the protective order provisions. And that's as I said, incorrect. A seepasexion for provides an extra layer of protection. So judge, Chuck and got it right. Judge Cannon got a completely wrong. Both orders came in within minutes of each other on Wednesday. So where do we go from here and why is this important? Ben, all right. You've talked my head off

about seep of this. Seep of that. Why should I care? Because I think this is an opportunity now for special counsel, Jack Smith, to finally bring an appeal, because this is a final order by Judge Cannon. Belief special counsel, Jack Smith is entitled to interlocutory review. I believe Judge Cannon's order here is so off base, is so out of touch with Cepa law that the 11th Circuit will, I think, agree of Special Counsel Jack Smith brings us on an interlocutory basis that her view of SEPA is so off base, I think she will get reversed again on an expedited appeal by the 11th Circuit

if Special Counsel Jack Smith goes this way. And I think that could have bigger ramifications on her ability to stay on a Case like this if not this one when she makes the next mistake, but This is a dangerous precedent that she is setting by basically Viciating seepisections force protections about how our classified information needs to be handled by subsuming it and burying it in seepasexion three protective order, which completely contradicts

the will of Congress and places our national security in jeopardy. And so you see her 15 page order in jeopardy. And so you see her 15 page order, Chuckins five page order where Chuckins like, okay, it's obvious. X part day in camera. Here's what it means. And if it meant the opposite, then why would Congress pass a law that says in camera, and why would Congress make these distinctions between classified documents or others? Why is there a section four in the first place? Another observation that I just made and I'll close with this is how Judge Chutkin refers to the government

as the government and Judge Cannon refers to the government as OSC, Office of Special Counsel. And it just shows you the framework within which judge can and views everything as hostile towards special counsel, Jack Smith's team. So that's the latest update on these two orders. This is why I think Jack Smith now will take the opportunity. I believe to file an appeal of judge canons order and you see how judge Chuck can just dealt with it matter. Effectly, five pages easy because this is precedent.

Judge canon, unlike judge, Chuck, and did the opposite and did a 15 page contortion of words and statutes versus here's just what section four of sepuses. I'm Ben Mycelas from the Midas Touch. Now, get subscribed. We're on our way to two million subscribers. Thanks to your support. Have a great day. At Midest Touch, we are unapologetically pro democracy

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