A recent report from Law and Crime on November 1, 2023, tells us that a federal judge in Florida has made a decision that’s not in favor of the Special Counsel’s Office (SCO). They were trying to limit two of Trump’s co-defendants’ access to classified information in the Mar-a-Lago case. Here’s what happened:
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed by Trump, issued a ruling that denied the SCO’s request to restrict Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira from accessing classified discovery related to the case.
Nauta and De Oliveira were accused of working with Trump to get and share classified information from a national security briefing held at Mar-a-Lago in 2020.
The SCO, led by Jack Smith, argued that these two co-defendants should have very limited access to the classified materials, and their lawyers should have to prove why they need to see it.
They based their argument on the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA), which deals with using classified information in criminal cases.
However, Judge Cannon disagreed with the SCO’s argument, saying it misinterpreted the law and that CIPA doesn’t allow the government to restrict access to classified information before a hearing.
She explained that CIPA is about settling disputes about classified information during the trial or pretrial hearings, not restricting access to discovery materials.
Judge Cannon also mentioned that the proposed restrictions would violate the defendants’ right to a fair trial and proper legal counsel because it would hinder their ability to prepare their defense and challenge the government’s evidence.
So, Judge Cannon ordered the SCO to come up with new protective orders that follow CIPA and respect the defendants’ rights by November 15. She also plans to schedule a hearing on CIPA after the discovery process is done.
This ruling is a setback for Jack Smith, who’s been leading a high-profile case against Trump and his associates, accusing them of leaking classified information that could harm national security.
The SCO claims Trump was involved in a scheme to get and disclose information about a secret military operation against Iran, which was discussed during the Mar-a-Lago briefing on January 3, 2020.
It’s worth noting that Trump has denied any wrongdoing and challenged Smith’s appointment as a special counsel. He’s also claimed executive privilege over the classified information and argued that the case is politically motivated.
This isn’t the first time Judge Cannon and Smith have disagreed on CIPA matters. In June, she appointed a special master to review the classified materials and decide what could be shared with the defense. However, this decision was overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in August, which said she had misused her authority and violated CIPA by delegating it to an outside party.
In an interesting side note, Judge Cannon repeatedly referred to the SCO as the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) throughout her order, even though the SCO had used its acronym in its filings. It’s unclear whether this was intentional or a mistake and if it had any impact on her ruling.
