Federal Judge Aileen Cannon has provided Special Counsel Jack Smith, who was recently picked to oversee two Justice Department investigations that involve Trump, with another win.
After a ruling by a three-judge panel on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals against the continuance of a review by a court-appointed third party known as a special master of items seized from Trump, Smith’s team asked for an extension of several upcoming deadlines in the special master’s work, and Cannon granted the request, potentially marking what is effectively the end of affected portions of the special master’s review since a more final end to things was already looming a little down the road. The process is tied to a Justice Department investigation of Trump’s handling of documents from his administration that were identified as classified, and among the deadlines Smith wanted moved was the required submission date for the special master’s final report containing recommendations on the further handling of the disputed materials that were seized.
Smith’s reasoning hinged in part on efficiency, which federal rules for civil procedure mandate as a priority. Should a certified copy of the appeals court judgment be issued after continuing with work on the special master’s review, that additional work could be for nothing.
Trump specifically opposed extending the challenged deadlines. A reply from Smith’s team to Trump’s opposition notes that, despite his team’s brief reference to the shortened deadline for seeking further action on the appeals court’s decision, that’s not what’s at issue here: “The government’s motion extends the time for three submissions in this Court. It does not modify or abridge Plaintiff’s deadlines to petition for rehearing or suggest rehearing en banc in the Eleventh Circuit or petition for a writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court. Indeed, the one-week extension of time for the submissions in this Court would appear to free up the “limited time available to President Trump” and his counsel to consider and potentially pursue Plaintiff’s options on appeal.”
Cannon, who was originally responsible for approving the special master’s work, didn’t provide reasoning for her decision, although Smith’s team also restated some of the arguments about efficiency in the brief replying to the Trump team’s stated opposition to extensions.
Trump has previously been unable to score wins even on scheduling. He also lost to the Justice Department when authorities sought an expedited schedule before the 11th Circuit in dealing with the government’s challenge to the entirety of the special master’s review, although the court evidently didn’t implement precise dates argued for by the government. The special master’s review has thus far not produced much of anything in terms of a lasting solution for the Trump team. The judge picked for the role has repeatedly challenged the Trump team on basic elements of their arguments, including how a record could be classed as personal and covered by executive privilege, and as Trump evidently turned in large part to claiming the records were personal, the government used that against him in arguments before the 11th Circuit. Personal records can ordinarily be seized by government action without special protections routinely required.
After the 11th Circuit's blistering ruling, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon REJECTS Trump's bid to keep the deadlines in place until the appeals court formally terminates the case.
She grants the DOJ's motion to put the case on ice. pic.twitter.com/QJSdKkwkhw
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) December 5, 2022
