Trump-appointed judge won’t consider new exhibits as evidence

Judge Canon Aileen issued an order that it would not consider the special prosecutor’s new exhibits Jack Smith team as evidence in the hearings currently underway into the former president Donald Trump’s Espionage Act case.

This week, Trump-appointed Judge Cannon held hearings on various issues, including Smith’s motion demanding that Trump be gagged from making statements like his false claims about the president. Joe Biden attempted to assassinate him during the FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago. Critics accused Judge Cannon of slowing down the case and making rulings unfavorable to the prosecution.

Smith and his team submitted a new brief during these hearings, including eleven new exhibits including photos, videos, social media posts and one containing several court orders.

In a pair of undocumented orders issued Thursday, Judge Cannon sealed Tuesday’s hearing and noted that Exhibit 11 would not be considered evidence because “the evidentiary record on the motion is closed”:

656

June 27, 2024

PAPERLESS MINUTES for hearing held before Judge Aileen M. Cannon on June 25, 2024. The Court heard arguments on the “Motion for Relief Relating to the Mar-A-Lago Raid and Unlawful Exercise of attorney-client privilege” of defendant Trump (566). Morning session conducted under seal to protect documents over which grand jury privilege applies and/or over which Defendant Trump asserts attorney-client privilege or work product protection. The afternoon session is reopened to the public. Total duration of the trial: 4 hours. Attorney Appearances: Jay I. Bratt, David Harbach, John M. Pellettieri, Michael Thakur, Todd Blanche, Emil Bove, Lazaro Fields, Kendra Wharton, Stanley Woodward, Sasha Dadan, Larry Donald Murrell, Jr., John S. Irving. Court Reporter: Laura Melton, [email protected]. (jf01)

…

657

June 27, 2024

PAPERLESS ORDER: In light of the numerous documents recently submitted by the Special Prosecutor and Defendant Trump in support and/or opposition to the Special Prosecutor’s Motion to Modify the Conditions of Release (592), the Court will allow the parties to file a final supplemental brief in response to these newly submitted documents, not to exceed 10 double-spaced pages, no later than July 5, 2024. The court takes note of the additional court orders included in Composite Exhibit 11 of the opinion recently filed by the special prosecutor (652). Pursuant to the court’s statements during the afternoon hearing on July 25, 2024 (649), the court will consider these orders as legal authority cited in the motion, and not as part of the evidentiary record developed in this proceeding, and not for the factual findings set forth in those separate proceedings. The evidentiary file for the motion is closed. Without leave of the court, no further exhibits will be attached to the authorized final supplemental briefs. Signed by Judge Aileen M. Cannon on 06/27/2024. (jf01)

Judge Cannon’s order contained a small error: the date of July 24, 2024, is in the future. The hearing in question took place in the past.

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