Former President Donald Trump appeared in a Florida courtroom on Thursday to appeal his classified documents case, while citing Special Counsel Robert Hur’s decision not to bring charges against sitting President Joe Biden.
Hur’s report showed that Joe Biden not only willfully and intentionally mishandled classified documents, stored them in multiple insecure locations, and procured them while Senator and Vice President, but he also misled federal investigators, obstructed justice, and divulged national security secrets.
Biden’s leaks of classified information are deemed to be so serious that the Intelligence Community is now performing a “damage assessment” to ascertain the extent they compromised national security.
Judge Cannon on Thursday, as reported by legal analyst Julie Kelly, took a wrecking ball to the Department of Justice’s case against Donald Trump.
Cannon pressed both defense and Special Counsel to explain when the "crime" of willful retention of national defense information begins–she noted the date in Jack Smith's indictment as to when Trump first violated the Espionage Act.
January 20, 2021, the day he left office pic.twitter.com/BTiEo3WLce
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) March 14, 2024
“Robert Hur report and testimony is the biggest elephant in the room,” Kelly noted. “The term ‘arbitrary enforcement’ used frequently by both the defense and Judge Aileen Cannon.”
“Cannon hammered the fact no former president or vice president has been charged under Espionage Act for taking and keeping classified records including national defense information–which represents 32 counts against Trump in Jack Smith’s indictment,” she continued.
“Prediction: Cannon won’t dismiss the case based on the motions debated today–vagueness of Espionage Act and protection under the Presidential Records Act,” she added.
“But it’s very likely she will dismiss the case based on selective prosecution, a motion still pending before her,” she stated.
Kelly provided more information on the courtroom developments.
“Cannon pressed both defense and Special Counsel to explain when the ‘crime’ of willful retention of national defense information begins–she noted the date in Jack Smith’s indictment as to when Trump first violated the Espionage Act,” she said. “January 20, 2021, the day he left office.”
“Jay Bratt, representing special counsel office, confirmed the ‘crime’ began that day because as a former president, he was entitled to retain the documents,” she also noted.
“Cannon again asked for historical precedent as to when a former president or vice president faced charges for similar conduct. Bratt of course said there is none.”
“She added ‘vice president’ on numerous occasions for a reason–Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Mike Pence all skated on criminal charges,” Kelly went on. “Trump is the only one who has not.”
“Cannon: ‘Arbitrary enforcement… is featuring in this case’. Cannon also addressed the ‘foreseeability’ as to Trump’s awareness he was committing a crime by keeping classified/national defense information,” she added.
“Given the constellation of what happened before”–meaning no criminal prosecution of former presidents including Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan and vice presidents–Cannon suggested Trump could have reasonably expected he was in the clear,” she went on.
That is as clear a signal that the Trump classified documents case is in peril as could have arisen out of the day’s courtroom proceedings.
While both cases may contain elements of technical illegalities, Donald Trump’s case is far less egregious than Joe Biden’s, given the fact Trump was a sitting president with ultimate declassification authority; he stored the documents at Mar-a-Lago, his authorized presidential office away from the White House; and he has further protection by the Presidential Records Act.
Thus, in the event of a “guilty” verdict in the Trump case, it will be a case of “selective and vindictive prosecution” — as blatant a case of election interference in U.S. history.
A Trump guilty verdict would thus be a political outcome subverting the will of American voters. It would be the true “attack on democracy” that the Democratic Party is dishonestly protesting about, while it interferes in America’s elections and compromises institutions such as the rule of law.
If Judge Cannon dismissed the Trump classified documents case with prejudice, it would be a true victory for “democracy.”
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