Former President Donald Trump is calling for Special Counsel Jack Smith to be “sanctioned or censured” in the federal case alleging he mishandled classified documents for “attacking” Judge Aileen Cannon in a Tuesday filing that accused her of having a “fundamentally flawed” understanding of the case.
Trump’s statement came in a post on Truth Social Thursday morning:
Deranged “Special” Counsel Jack Smith, who has a long record of failure as a prosecutor, including a unanimous decision against him in the U.S. Supreme Court, should be sanctioned or censured for the way he is attacking a highly respected Judge, Aileen Cannon, who is presiding over his FAKE Documents Hoax case in Florida.
The filing from Smith’s team on Tuesday zoned in on Cannon’s request for draft language from both Trump’s defense and the prosecution on jury instructions for two scenarios, as Breitbart News’s Kristina Wong pointed out:
Cannon asked each side for instructions for two scenarios: One in which they would tell jurors to assess whether the records fell into the categories of “personal” or “presidential,” and another that assumes Trump had complete authority to take records he wanted from the White House.
Judge Aileen Cannon (United States District Court)
Smith’s team contends that each scenario rests on the Presidential Records Act, arguing it is an “unstated and fundamentally flawed legal premise.”
The filing reads, in part:
Both scenarios rest on an unstated and fundamentally flawed legal premise — namely, that the Presidential Records Act and in particular its distinction between “personal” and “Presidential” records, determines whether a former President is “authorized,” under the Espionage Act, to possess highly classified documents and store them in an unsecure facility.
The prosecution seeks for Cannon to rule “on whether the Presidential Records Act and the distinction between personal and presidential records” are relevant to the case, Wong noted. The Justice Department can appeal before trial if the court rules it is applicable.
Trump’s defense believes the case should be dismissed, contending he had broad authority under the Presidential Records Act to deem any record from his presidency personal.
Trump also called Smith “a lowlife who is nasty, rude, and condescending, and obviously trying to ‘play the ref,’” in his post on Thursday before comparing his case to President Joe Biden’s classified document probe and twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s home-brew email investigation.
This image, contained in the report from Special Counsel Robert Hur and marked with the number one, shows a damaged box where classified documents were found in the garage of President Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware, during an FBI search on December 21, 2022. (Justice Department via AP)
“He shouldn’t even be allowed to participate in this sham case, where I, unlike Crooked Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and all the rest, come under the Presidential Records Act,” Trump said.
“I DID NOTHING WRONG, BUT BIDEN DID, AND THEY LET HIM OFF SCOT-FREE. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN, JACK? A TWO TIERED SYSTEM OF JUSTICE. ELECTION INTERFERENCE!” the 45th president added.
The case is USA v. Donald J. Trump, No. 23-80101-CR in the U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida West Palm Beach Division.
