Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon handed prosecutors in his Mar-a-Lago case a shocking ultimatum on Monday.

TheĀ MAGA-friendlyĀ federal judge whoĀ keeps sidingĀ withĀ Donald TrumpĀ in his Mar-a-Lago classified records case has forced prosecutors to make a stark choice: allow jurors to see a huge trove of national secrets or let him go.

U.S. District JudgeĀ Aileen M. Cannonā€™sultimatum Monday night came as a surprise twist in what could have been a simple order; one merely asking federal prosecutors and Trumpā€™s lawyers for proposed jury instructions at the upcoming trial.

But asĀ sheĀ hasĀ done repeatedly, Cannon used this otherwise innocuous legal step as yet another way to swing the case wildly in favor of the man who appointed her while he was president.

Department of Justice Special CounselĀ Jack SmithĀ must now choose whether to allow jurors at the upcoming criminal trial to peruse the many classified records found at the former presidentā€™s South Florida mansion or give jurors instructions that would effectively order them to acquit him.

  • Eva!@lemmy.worldEnglish
    12Ā·
    9 months ago

    The defining characteristic of US classified documents is that their release would cause some degree of damage to US national security, ranging from harmful to gravely harmful. hereā€™s a Cornell Law writeup that squares with what I know here.

    Regardless of any opinions one might have as to the use and application of classification, in the eyes of the US government taking these documents without authorization is harmful by definition.